That One Thing
by GracieHartley
Summary: Ailey Corteese never expected to get into The X Factor, nor any further than that. And she most certainly didn't expect to fall for one of the guest judges, Harry Styles, of One Direction fame. But she did, and this is her story.
1. Chapter 1

"How old are you again, Ailey?" Simon Cowell, for a rare moment, looked stunned.

I blushed, giving Simon a small smile. "I'm fifteen."

Ronan Keating leant forward on his elbows, eyebrows raised. "And with a voice like that? You are exactly why we lowered the age limit last year. You _are_ the X Factor."

I bit down on my lip, blushing as I tried to contain my grin. "Thankyou" I murmured before resuming my silent wait to see if I had gotten through. My nails were digging into the back of my hand, leaving small, red, crescent shaped marks in my skin.

"Well, I think it's time for us to vote." Ronan leant back in his seat, studying me for a second. "It's a yes from me."

I couldn't contain my grin this time, thanking him and giving him one of my best smiles.

Mel B smiled, winking at me. "The world's not gonna know what hit 'em. Hell yes!"

After thanking Mel, I looked over at Guy Sebastian, silently praying that he would say yes. "I don't know. I'm not sure you're ready. Give me a minute."

I tried not to show how much that hurt, nodding my head. There was silence for a minute, with the exception of a few small boos from the crowd, until Simon hit his hand down on the table.

"Well, I think you're ready." He leant forward in his seat. "There's something about you, Ailey, which I can't quite describe. I think that you yourself don't quite know what you're capable of. It's a yes from me."

I sucked in a breath, clasping my hand over my mouth. I had a yes from three of the judges, that was all I needed. But I waited to hear Guy's decision.

Guy looked at me, pursing his lips in thought. "Well, there's no denying you've got something. I guess time will tell if that something is the X Factor. It's a yes from me, Ailey."

I couldn't contain the tiny squeal that erupted from my mouth. "Thank you so much!" I gushed, jumping up and down.

I rushed off the stage to where my parents and best friend, Lucie were. Lucie looked up from her snack sized jar of nutella as I burst in. "I got in!" I squealed.

She practically threw the nutella aside, something very out of character for her, and wrapped her arms around me, followed by my parents.

"You're going to bootcamp!" Lucie gushed. "You're going to meet celebrities and everything!"

I wiped tears away, unable to stop smiling.

A few weeks later in Sydney, bootcamp began and we were all gathered into our groups to await further information.

The noise coming from the under 25 girls that had gotten into bootcamp was absolutely deafening. The room where we had been shoved was crowded, with girls sprawled out on the floor, the few chairs provided and each other.

I sat on the floor with three other girls I'd met, Andrea, Charlotte and Jessica. Lottie was currently playing with a lock of her wavy brown hair, her bright blue eyes fixated on it, searching for non-existent split ends while Jessie was dancing along to a song that was blasting from someone's speakers. Andy leant against me, her head on my shoulder.

"How much longer do you think we have to wait?" She asked, yawning and pulling the cuffs of her red sweater over her knuckles.

We were waiting to find out who our mentor was. And, even better, who the guest celebrity judge would be. The general consensus was that we wanted Mel B as a mentor, but I wasn't so sure. Simon had created the show, and seemed to know more about managing and producing an act that the other judges.

I shrugged in response just as the lights turned on above the main door, instantly silencing the room. We all got to our feet, waiting. Slowly the door opened to reveal…

Simon Cowell.

One thing I've learnt through X Factor so far: Girls under the age of 25 really know how to scream.

As everyone screamed, Simon looked around the room and laughed. He stopped for a few seconds on me, seeing that I wasn't going absolutely mental, and winked.

"Okay, girls. Now you know that I'm your mentor I bet you're all quite curious as to who our celebrity guests will be. Well…"

He gestured towards the door again as the handle turned once more before being thrown open.

My mouth dropped open. Screams filled the air. Jessie grabbed a hold of my shoulders, jumping up and down excitedly.

In front of us stood none other than One Direction.

"Hello, ladies." Louis smiled, his hands in his pockets. Next to him, Niall looked utterly bewildered by the screaming girls. On Louis' other side, Harry looked absolutely euphoric that he had found himself in a room full of girls. Next to him, Zayn was calm and collected, looking intently at all the girls. Last through the door was Liam, who stood smiling, giving everyone a small wave.

Simon gestured to the boys. "Our guest judges, One Direction."


	2. Chapter 2

Once everyone had calmed down, we were told what would be happening over the next few days. Tomorrow, we would be singing a song of our own choice as means of getting into the top twelve. If we made it through, we'd be singing again for Simon in attempts to make it into the top six. If we made it that far, we'd be on our way to the judges' houses.

After we had been told everything, we left to go practise our songs. I had been roomed with Lottie, Jessie and Andy, so we helped each other out with song choices, practising together. Luckily, this year there would be four acts in each category, meaning that there was the possibility for all four of us to stay together.

After auditioning with 'Love Alone' by Katelyn Tarver, I needed something that would show off my voice again. Adele seemed obvious, but I didn't want it to be too obvious. And Adele was a hard act to cover, I wasn't sure if I was up to it. Or maybe I should sing something a bit more low-key? My head was a mess, jumbled up with ideas and song lyrics and doubts about whether or not I could actually do this.

Jessie and Lottie were animatedly practising together in the corner of the room, but Andy and I still hadn't chosen our songs. We sat on one of the beds, laptops balancing on our laps as we scrolled through our iTunes libraries.

Finally, Andy stood up, holding out her hand to me. "Come with me, I can't stay in this room any longer."

I thought about it for a second before taking her hand, slipping on my ugg boots before we left the room. I didn't care that I probably looked like trash, roaming the halls in ugg boots, a beatles t-shirt and short shorts. I needed to get out of that room too.

We had been wandered around for fifteen minutes, just talking, when we heard a piano being played. Andy put her hand out, tugging me to a stop beside her. "Wait" she mouthed.

We took a right, walking down a narrow corridor. The music was coming from behind a door at the end of the hall. We crept up until we could press our ears against the door, listening to the music.

"When I'm older I want a grand piano so badly" Andy whispered to me, smiling.

I grinned back, mouthing "same" excitedly.

The sound of voices came from behind the door, male voices. The piano playing turned choppy for a second before evening out again.

Andy slowly turned the handle of the door, cracking it open an inch. I shot her a panicked look, trying to warn her to be careful. She just smiled, moving to the side so that we could both look into the room.

Sitting at the piano was none other than Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne sitting next to him. The perfect piano playing continued as Louis played the piano, turning choppy again when Liam took over.

"You can't even play, man" said the deep, monotone voice of someone that we couldn't see.

"At least I can play more than the kazoo, Hazza." Liam said, looking behind him. The sound of laughter echoed throughout the room and down the hall. Andy and I both looked at each other, smiling.

"Girls, what are you doing?" Andy and I spun around to see Simon standing a little ways away from us, an amused look on his face.

The door opened and the boys of One Direction stood in the doorway. I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks.

We both stood there, silent and shocked, until Andy spoke up. "Umm, we just. We just heard the piano."

I played with a lock of my hair, twirling it around my finger and avoiding looking into anyone's eyes.

Simon laughed. "Ailey, stop acting like you've committed a crime."

I snapped my head up. He remembered my name? The boys all looked at me too, with knowing looks in their eyes. What had Simon said about me?

Andy reached over and grabbed my hand. "We'll just go back to our room then. Night." She tugged me down the corridor and back into the main hallway.

From behind us, I heard one of the boys yell out "goodnight, Ailey!" followed by calls of a similar nature, with Louis' "night babes!" standing out.

We practically ran back to our room, closing the door behind us quietly upon finding Jessie and Lottie asleep in one of the double beds. We climbed into our beds, laughing quietly to ourselves out of relief.

The next morning, I woke up before the other girls. I decided to go get a cup of tea and keep practising my 'song for Simon' as the girls and I kept referring to it as. I brushed my hair while at the same top pulling on a pair of denim shorts and a shirt. I slipped on my knee socks and shoes before making my way to wherever I was meant to go to get tea.

I heard noises coming from down the hall, but I had learnt my lesson last night. I walked away from the sound, seeing a set of glass doors.

As I was about to close the door behind me, I heard someone behind me. I turned around to see someone carrying a heavy guitar case while also trying to drag a suitcase behind them. Their face was obscured by the hood of their jumper, but I could see brown hair poking out from beneath it.

I quickly walked over to them, trying to be helpful. "Do you need some help?"

"Please" came the grunted reply.

I took the guitar case out of their hands. "Where do you need me to take this?"

The mystery person stood up straight, pushing their hood back. "Oh, hey Ailey." Louis smiled at me, running his fingers through his hair to ensure there were no gaps in his fringe.

"Louis" I smiled. "I'm surprised you remembered my name."

"Oh, I'd heard of you before last night. Simon told us all about you" he replied matter-of-factly.

I stared at him, shocked. "Please tell me he said good things. I'm having a minor heart attack right now."

He laughed. "He remembered you from the audition, that's a pretty rare thing. A_good_ thing."

I let out the breath I had been holding. "Thank goodness."

He smiled before putting down his suitcase. "Actually, I wanted to get something off of you. Do you mind?"

I raised an eyebrow, confused. "What are you after?"

He smiled, producing a pen from his pocket and reaching into his suitcase to get some paper. "Your autograph, please."

"Wait, what? You want my autograph, why?" I raised my hand slightly to take the pen, confused.

"Well, I got Harry's autograph when we were in bootcamp because I knew he'd be famous and I'm doing the same for you."

I laughed. "I hardly think I could ever be as famous as you or Harry." But I took the pen, giving Louis my autograph.

He grinned gleefully, folding up the piece of paper and sliding it into his back pocket along with the pen. "So, will you help me bring these up to my and Harry's room? I was meant to bring them up yesterday, but I was feeling lazy."

I smiled, picking up the guitar case again from where I had placed it on the floor. "Lead the way."

Louis led me back up the way I had came, walking towards where the noise I had heard earlier had been coming from. He pointed at three rooms as we walked past them. "Liam, Niall and Zayn" he explained. He stopped in front of one of the rooms, taking out a key from his pocket. He flung open the door. "Honey, I'm home! And I brought a friend!"

I laughed at his antics, entertained by them. Harry appeared from around the corner "you really did bring a friend." I smiled shyly, shifting the weight of the guitar case from one hand to the other.

Harry stepped forward, reaching for the guitar. "Here, give that to me. I don't even know why Louis has it, it's Niall's." He looked over at Louis, giving him a look that simply said _you're an idiot_.

"Rude" Louis flicked his hair out of his eyes, taking his suitcase inside. I stayed just outside the door, angling my body towards the waiting elevator.

Harry rolled his eyes at Louis before looking at me, seeing from my body language that I was about to go. "So, what are you up to today? Besides the singing later, that is." He smiled at me, showing off the dimple in his cheek.

I shrugged. "Well, I was going to go get a cup of tea when I ran into Louis, although I have no idea where to go to get that. And then I'm just going to spend the rest of my time practising, like everyone else."

Harry's eyes lit up at the mention of tea. "You like tea? If you want some, we have a kettle in here." He gestured for me to come inside. I smiled, brushing past him as I walked inside.


	3. Chapter 3

Harry handed me a cup of tea, sitting down next to me on the couch. Their room was a lot better than mine and the girls; ours just consisted of our beds. Harry and Louis had a kitchen, couches and a TV. Harry looked over at Louis, shaking his head. Louis had taken Niall's guitar out of it's case and was attempting to play it.

Louis grinned at him, still strumming at the guitar. "Calm down, Curly. You're just jealous that I play better than you."

Harry shrugged, resting his arms on the back of the couch. "My kazoo playing is excellent."

Louis laughed. "That is true. I've never heard someone lay down beats on a kazoo like that before."

Harry gave him a lazy thumbs up with the arm that was on my side of the couch, effectively putting his arm around me. "Thanks Boo Bear."

Louis winked at him and then smiled at me. "So, Ailey. Simon told us you've got a pretty impressive voice. Care to share?"

I smiled. "Nah, I'll save it for later. You'll just have to wait."

"What song are you singing?"

"The A Team by Ed Sheeran."

Harry smiled, tugging at a strand of my hair. "Ed's my friend; I hope you can live up to him."

I smiled, although a shot of panic ran through me. I took a sip of my tea before answering. "We'll just have to wait and see then, won't we?"

Louis and Harry both smiled. Louis put down the guitar, focusing intently on me as he asked me, "so, are there any other girls we should watch out for? Who else is as good as you?"

I blushed at his words, tracing the rim of my cup with the tip of my finger. "I think you overestimate my ability."

Harry tightened his arm around my shoulder and Louis just smiled. "Well, according to Simon you're pretty darn good. And you're the only one he remembered from auditions."

I smiled. "So I should get through then?" I raised an eyebrow at him, smirking.

"If you're good you will."

I sighed, putting down my cup. "I'll only be good if I go practice. I should go back to my room."

I stood up to go. Harry frowned at me, sticking out his lower lip. Louis stood up, opening his arms for a hug. "Well, see you later then, Ails."

I grinned at the nickname, hugging him for a few seconds. I turned around to see Harry playfully glaring at Louis. I looked at Louis, who just smiled back innocently.

Harry pulled me in for a hug, holding me for longer than Louis. "Seeya later, babe."

I blushed, giving both of them a small wave before walking out.

Back at our room, Jessie was jumping up and down on the bed, singing along to Another World by One Direction. I grinned at her, laughing as Andy hugged me hello.

"Where've you been?"

I shrugged. "Oh, just drinking tea."

She smiled. "Come on, we have to practice."

We spent the next few hours practicing, until we felt we were ready. At two o'clock, we went downstairs for auditions. Thankfully we were allowed instruments, so I brought my guitar.

Lining up, I noticed just how many of us there were. Andy, Lottie, Jessie and I held hands, wishing each other good luck.

We were placed in the same group, meaning that we'd be auditioning together. We were the eighth group that would be singing, a lucky sign for me.

As our group was called, I picked up my guitar and grabbed hold of Andy's hand, walking onstage together.

We stood in a line across the stage, ready to sing. Simon and the boys sat at a table in front of the stage. Louis looked at me, grinning. Harry gave me a thumbs up, smiling encouragingly.

Simon stood up, a sheet of paper in his hand. "Okay, girls. Just tell us your name when it's your turn so we can mark you off. First up is…"

A girl with honey blonde hair stepped forward. "I'm Tayla."

Simon gestured for her to start. "Okay, go."

As the singing came closer to me, I held onto my guitar tightly. Lottie and Jessie sang amazingly, and then it was Andy's turn. She gave my hand a squeeze when it was my turn. I wiped my sweaty hand on my shorts pocket before stepping forward.

Before I could speak, Simon ticked something off on the list. "Okay, Ailey. It's your turn now. What will you be singing?"

I gulped; I had forgotten that he remembered me. "The A Team, by Ed Sheeran."

He smiled at me, a first in our group. "Go ahead." I looked down at my guitar, playing the familiar melody. I forgot about the other girls and Simon, about Harry, Louis and the boys. It was just me, my guitar and the song.

When I finished, I stepped back, for a minute not noticing that Harry and Louis were clapping.

Niall, Liam and Zayn looked at them weirdly for a second before clapping as well. I smiled shyly, my face hot.

Andy grabbed onto my hand and we walked back to wait and see who would get through.

We were called back in groups to hear who had gotten through. Being group eight, it was a long wait for me and the girls.

Finally, we were called. One of the crew had taken my guitar, saying they'd put it back in our room.

We held hands again as we walked onto the stage, not letting go as we stood in a line.

Simon and the boys were in the same position we had left them in. I looked directly at Simon, wanting to hear the verdict.

He stood, a piece of paper once again in his hand. But this time it held something a lot more important on it. The result.

I gulped, my hands shaking in Jessie's and Andy's.

"Can Ailey, Jessica, Charlotte, Andy and Tayla please step forward?"

I bit my lip, stepping forward with the other girls. Tayla came over to hold Andy's hand, looking scared.

"I'm sorry, the rest of you haven't made it through."

The breath I'd been holding was knocked out of me as Jessie, Andy and Lottie wrapped their arms around me. Jessie started whooping, doing a little jig that I was now accustomed to. Lottie went to hug Tayla.

I hugged Andy, both of us jumping up and down with excitement. We both ran off the stage to hug Simon, who just laughed and shushed us.

The crew came and told us to go backstage again so that they could see the final group.

Andy pulled me away, and too late I realised I hadn't said anything to Harry and Louis.

We went backstage to the top twelve's room, smiling like idiots. In it were five girls we didn't know. That meant that only two from the final group would get through.

Once the two girls had come through, screaming, we were told what was happening tomorrow. We had to sing another song, but this time we would all be singing the same song.

Simon and the boys came backstage a few minutes later, Harry and Louis both winking at me. The other boys just smiled at me.

"So girls, if you thought today was tough, tomorrow will be worse." Simon spoke seriously but there was a slight twinkle in his eyes that let us know that he was just the tiniest bit joking. "You'll be singing Turning Tables by Adele, all of you. And we'll assess you all and narrow you down to six."

I sighed in relief. I loved that song. I _knew_ that song.

Slowly, all the girls and I left the room to go back to our rooms. Before I could leave, Harry and Louis stopped me, pulling me into a group hug. "We told you you'd get through" they both said, smiling. The other boys just stood there, obviously feeling out of place.

I smiled. "Yeah, well. You never do quite know. I have to go practice, see you later."

Later, I sat on my bed with Lottie next to me, all four of us girls belting out Turning Tables like it was nobody's business.

A knock at the door silenced us all. Jessie got up off of her bed to open the door.

"Hey, babe." I sat up straighter, that voice now very familiar.

Louis poked his head around the door, Jessie leaning out of the way with a shocked expression on her face. "Is it later, Ails?"

I laughed. "Umm, sure. Why not?"

Louis pushed the door open, Jessie still in shock and for the first time since I had met her, silent.

Harry and the other boys filed in after him. Harry went to sit next to me, but Louis pushed him off the bed. "Mine."

"You wanna bet?" Harry mumbled, disgruntled.

Lottie moved from my side to sit next to Andy, leaving the space open for Harry, who happily took it.

"Don't you have a girlfriend?" Lottie asked, raising an eyebrow at Louis.

He nodded. "Yup, Elle. She's my girl."

"Then get away from mine." Harry said, pushing Louis off of the bed and onto the floor.

Louis looked up, feigning hurt. "How rude."

A few hours later and Lottie, Andy and Jessie were all best friends with the boys. I had finally met Niall, Liam and Zayn properly, after I had told Harry that he was being rude and that he needed to introduce me.

He had sheepishly introduced me, resulting in Niall and Zayn calling him whipped for the next hour.

At midnight, I attempted to kick the boys out, but Zayn and Liam had made themselves at home on Andy's bed, Niall was asleep on the floor with a blanket covering him, and Louis was asleep on Lottie's bed. Harry and I lay on my bed, watching a movie on my laptop, while Andy and Jessie were half asleep on Jessie's bed.

Harry stretched and shifted, making himself comfortable. He wound his arm around me, pulling me closer so that I rested my head on his chest.

"I'm tired" I mumbled, covering my mouth with one hand in an attempt to suppress my yawn.

"Then sleep" was his reply as he ran his fingers through my hair.

"Fine" I murmured, already half asleep in his arms.


	4. Chapter 4

I woke up early the next morning to find my face pressed against Harry's chest, his arms wrapped around me. I untangled our legs before scrambling out of the bed.

I quickly had a shower and threw on my clothes for the day, tucking my shirt into my high waisted shorts and walking back into the room to find Harry awake.

"There you are, Ails. I was about to file a missing persons report." Unf, morning voice.

I held back a giggle at the state his hair was in. He noticed my smirk, "what?"

I walked over to him, attempting to smooth down his hair. "It looks like you've been attacked."

"It's sex hair" he said in his sexy morning voice while giving me sex eyes. He wasn't sexy or anything _at all_.

"Afro" I teased under my breath.

Unfortunately he heard me. "Hey! Take it back!"

I shushed him, not wanting to wake the others. "Calm down, Harold."

He quickly adopted the use of my full name. "Aileen, take it back" he murmured, pulling me down onto the bed next to him.

"Don't Aileen me, Harold."

He wrapped his arms around me, nuzzling his face into my neck. "Ailey." He dragged out my name, it made even sexier by his morning voice.

That's it, no more talking to Harry in the morning. I forbid myself.

He pushed me down onto the bed, tracing patterns onto my now exposed stomach due to my shirt coming untucked.

"Take it back, Ails" he breathed into my ear, making me shiver.

"I don't want to" I murmured, squirming underneath his touch.

He didn't get off me, just continued tracing patterns onto my stomach that I was proud to say was flat.

"Babe" he murmured, pushing my shirt up and massaging the skin of my waist.

Movement to my right caused me to push Harry off of me, sitting up.

"I take it back" I murmured before walking out of the room.

What _was_ that? He had acted as if we were more than friends, but it just didn't make any sense.

And the thing that scared me was that we would have kept going had someone not woken up.

A few hours later and I took my place in the line for Day Three of Bootcamp. I hadn't returned to my room after the little incident, so I was expecting some questioning. I was just glad that those particular events weren't filmed by the camera crew.

"Where have you been?" Andy hissed, but I knew that she was just worried.

"I'm sorry," I murmured. "I just needed to clear my head."

She looked at me, confused. "Of what?"

I sighed. "Harry."

She knitted her eyebrows together. "What happened, Ails?"

I almost smiled at how everyone was now calling me that. "He was just acting…different, this morning."

"How so?"

I bit my lip. "As if we were more than friends."

She raised an eyebrow. "Is that…bad?"

I smiled slightly. "I don't even know, honestly. This is all like something out of a bad fanfiction."

She laughed. "Well, honestly, I thought there was something going on between you last night."

I directed my gaze at her instead of the stage doors, surprised. "What, why?"

She shrugged. "He seems to like you, you seem to like him."

I groaned. It was all too annoying.

When the twelve of us girls filed into the audition room, I was dreading it. But not because of the audition part. Harry would be in there.

I avoided eye contact and kept my gaze on Simon, not wanting to distract myself.

When it was my turn, I sang the song. Plain and simple. I meant to forget about all the drama, but instead I used it to connect with the song, knowing that that would give me an edge.

We stayed backstage to wait for the verdict. We'd be called in individually and wouldn't know who was through until we got our result.

I was eighth to be called, another lucky sign.

I walked into the room to see Simon sitting on a couch by himself. He smiled when he saw me.

"Hi, Ailey. It's nice to see you."

I smiled in response, too nervous to speak. Hearing the verdict one-on-one was so much more daunting than in a group.

"Your performance today was…enthralling. You really connected with that song."

I smiled. "I tried to."

He grinned. "It worked."

I wasn't sure if that meant I was in, so I just waited for him to tell me.

"I want you in my top six, Ailey."

I squealed, throwing my arms around him. "Oh my gosh!" I jumped up, wiping away tears. Gosh, I cried easily.

"Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou!"

I ran off to the top six room, squealing in delight when I saw Jessie and Lottie waiting for me.

"Ailey!" They screamed, hugging me.

Tayla and another girl sat on the couch, meaning that there was only one spot left.

"Oh my gosh, please let Andy get through. She was amazing."

I clasped my hands together, praying that the last person through those doors would be Andy.

We waited ten minutes, and the doors slowly opened.

Jessie screamed directly into my ear, running over to Andy and picking her up while simultaneously hugging her.

We came together in a group hug, all smiles and excitement.

It had been six weeks since Bootcamp, and I was scheduled to meet the other girls at the airport this afternoon.

I had discovered that Harry was surprisingly good at discovering a person's social networking accounts. He had spammed my twitter, followed me on tumblr and facebook (I didn't even know he had those!) and he had also somehow gotten my phone number, home and mobile. He had probably gotten my mobile off of one of the girls; it was something they would do. But I had no idea how he had gotten my home phone number.

I had decided not to ignore him. That would just be too mean. I did like him, a lot. But I wasn't going to let myself give in to his advances, if he would even make any. Maybe he just liked feeling up his friends. Who knows?

We had become good friends in the past three weeks, with regular calls every night lasting for hours. It was a good thing that he was most likely rich, because those calls must have cost him a fortune.

I replied to one of his texts, telling him that I would see him later. He would be at Bootcamp, after all.

The only information we had been given was to pack both clothes for both hot and cold weather, as we would be travelling to two different places.

I arrived at the airport, walking up to the information desk.

"Hi, do you by any chance know where I'm supposed to go for X Factor?"

The balding man behind the counter looked at me for a moment, not sure if I was authentically an X Factor contestant. "Name?"

"Ailey Corteese."

He looked down at a list before nodding his head. "Just keep walking straight down there," he pointed to my left. "And you should see them to your right."

I nodded, smiling and thanking him before making my way over to where he said they would be.

"Ailey!" I looked up to see Andy running towards me.

"Andy!" I dropped my bag, wrapping my arms around her at the same time as she pulled me in for a hug.

I hastily picked up my bag as she pulled me over to where everyone else was standing.

"Okay, we're all here?" I looked at the other five girls huddled in a circle with me. Tayla, the blonde girl from Bootcamp that I didn't really know, held an envelope in her hands.

"Okay, ready to see where we're going?" She asked, smiling widely.

We all nodded, encouraging her to open it. She opened it slowly, pulling out a piece of paper. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened. She turned the piece of paper to face us.

Greece and London.

Instantly, it was Bootcamp top twelve results all over again. Lottie actually picked me up, spinning me around. "We're going to Greece and London" Jessie and Andy were chanting, dancing around together. They pulled Lottie and me into their little dance circle, laughing.

We had to wait forty minutes for our plane. Those forty minutes consisted of airport food, lots of giggling and just general idiocy and excitement.

Once we had boarded the plane, we relaxed and watched a movie. I eventually fell asleep, waking up to Jessie shaking me.

"Wake up, Ails. We're in Greece!"

I held back a squeal, getting up from my seat and letting Jessie pull me to the exit. She squeezed my hand, grinning widely as we stepped into the exit tunnel.

We quickly started up a chant of 'We're in Greece' once we exited the tunnel and saw our surroundings. We continued dancing around, getting Andy and Lottie to join in, until we heard laughter behind us.

"Yes, you _are_ in Greece."

I turned around to see Simon standing there. I looked behind him for the boys, but couldn't find them.

"Girls, if you'll come with me, we'll go to my villa."

My mouth dropped open. I turned to the other girls. _His villa?_ I mouthed excitedly.

They laughed, linking arms and pulling me along with them to the car.

We gazed in awe out the window as we drove to Simon's villa. The scenery was beautiful, the white houses with blue roofs breathtaking.

We arrived at the villa and I almost laughed from the sheer shock of it all. It was huge.

We all clambered out of the car and stood there, our bags at our feet, just looking around us in awe.

"So, girls, are you ready to meet your celebrity judges?"

We all nodded, though I knew that the boys were here.

"Back again, we have One Direction."

The boys came through the front door of the villa, walking down the steps to greet us.

"And, because I need a lot of help," he paused, smiling at us while we laughed. "We have Cher Lloyd."

Tayla squealed as Cher Lloyd appeared at the front door, waving at us.

"Hey, girls." She said, smiling.

With the introductions over, the cameras were turned off and we were promptly given the rest of the day off.

The boys walked over to us, hugging us hello.

Harry made a beeline for me, gathering me up in his arms. "I missed you, Ails."

I smiled. "Yeah, yeah. I missed you too, Harold."

He smirked. "Aileen."

I rolled my eyes, hugging Louis as he came over to me.

"Ailey, meet Cher. She's our friend from X Factor."

I smiled at Cher, who waved. "It's nice to meet you."

"So, girls. Care for a tour?" Louis spoke up, gesturing to the house.

We all nodded, following Louis as he led us inside, Harry keeping his hand on the small of my back.


	5. Chapter 5

After the boys had shown us around the villa, we made plans to meet them down at the beach in ten minutes. We told Cher to come, but she had to go to an interview and meet and greet and wouldn't be back until tomorrow.

I stood in front of the mirror, fiddling with my orange checked bikini. It was my favourite; it was one of the only bathing suits that fit me perfectly. I had a weird body shape. Weird, but good at the same time.

I had an alright frame, not much fat on me at all. Smooth stomach, untouching legs and a decent sized bum.

Lottie walked past me, rolling her eyes as I scrutinised my body. "You have the perfect body to be a Victoria's Secret model, so quit your whining."

I laughed, rolling my eyes. I slid a pair of faded denim shorts on, picking up my towel off the chair next to me. I ran my fingers through my wavy blonde hair before announcing that I was ready.

Jessie came out of the bathroom, posing flirtatiously. "Let's roll."

She linked her arm through mine, leading me out the door.

The boys were already down at the beach, so we headed down, Lottie whistling under her breath when we saw that they were already in the water.

I rested my eyes on Harry's topless form. Damn, that boy was _fit_.

I mentally slapped myself. That was _not_ avoiding his advances. Even if he wasn't really making any.

We lay our towels down on the beach, sitting on them and waiting for the boys to notice that we were there. I took off my shorts, laying back on my towel and preparing to tan.

Someone stood over me, blocking out the sun. I opened my eyes to see Harry standing over me in all his topless glory. He smiled at me, his lingering gaze going up and down my body, seemingly liking what he saw. I smirked.

I resisted the urge to inform him of exactly where my face was, not totally minding that he was practically devouring me with his eyes. I liked that I could affect him like he affected me.

"You need to put on sunscreen." He informed me seriously, still not entirely looking at my face.

"Is that so?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

The other girls had left, playing around in the surf.

Harry sat down, fumbling around in Lottie's bag for the sunscreen. "Turn over" he ordered.

I did as he said, resting my chin on my crossed arms. Nothing happened for a few seconds, but then his hands gently started massaging sunscreen onto my shoulders. All thoughts of avoiding his advances instantly flew out the figurative window.

He moved my hair out of the way, finishing on my shoulder and moving down my back. He massaged down my back and at the sides of my waist. I bit my lip, trying not to show how much I was enjoying this.

Andy came over to us, taking Lottie's wallet and informing us that they were all going to go get ice cream. I only nodded in response.

The beach was deserted except for me and Harry, whose hands were now massaging the tops of my thighs.

My bikini bottoms didn't exactly cover up everything, and Harry took advantage of that, murmuring something about not wanting me to get burnt. What a load of phooey that was. He moved his hands back up to my lower back, even though he had already done there.

He tugged at my waist, telling me to sit up. I did and he sat behind me, his chest pressed up against my back as he massaged sunscreen onto my stomach.

"I could've done that" I murmured, although I really didn't mind at all. He said nothing in response.

Suddenly, his lips were on my neck.

Automatically, I leant my head to the side, giving him more access to my neck.

"Harry" I mumbled, unsure as to whether or not I should stop him. I really didn't want to, but my logical side was telling me to.

My logical side was banished when he turned me around, pushing me down onto the blanket and hovering over me, cradling my head with one hand so that I wouldn't hit it on anything.

"Ails," he murmured, pushing my hair off of my shoulders and letting it fall onto the towel.

I gazed up at him, breathing heavily. We just looked at each other for a few seconds before he leant down and pressed his lips to mine.

His hand travelled up and down my waist, one slipping under the curve of my waist and pulling me closer to him.

He nestled in between my legs, running his other hand up the side of my waist and hesitating before resting it just below my chest, his thumb lightly grazing the bottom of my bikini top.

I tangled the fingers of one hand into his hair, the other tracing the muscles of his chest before resting on his neck.

I moved my leg up, tangling it with his. He took that as consent to move his hand up further, anchoring it to my chest.

He groaned when I moved my hips slightly. I smirked against his lips, moving my hips again to the same response. He pulled back, looking at me with dark eyes.

He stood up, not giving me a chance to look at him before he lifted me up into his arms and carried me out into the water.

Once we were in the water, he let go of all of my but my waist, pulling me close. I bit my lip, trying to keep my gaze from resting on his.

This was _not_ staying away from him and his advances.

Later that night, I lay on the king-sized bed of my room at the villa. The villa was so huge that everyone got their own rooms, though Harry and Louis still shared.

A knock on my door caught my attention. I paused Full House and got out of bed to answer it.

Harry. Of course.

After our little rendezvous on the beach, he had acted completely normal, and I was beginning to think that he really _did_ just enjoy feeling up his friends.

He stood at the open doorway, smiling at me in that way of his that made me want to melt.

"Hey, Ails."

I tucked a lock of damp blonde hair behind my ear, deeply aware of the fact that my shirt showed off a sliver of my stomach and my pyjama shorts were too small and barely covered my bum.

Normally, I wouldn't have cared, but Harry made me care about things I normally wouldn't care about.

He didn't seem to care about the same things as me, as he was currently shirtless.

"What're you up to?"

I smirked. "Watching an 80's sitcom. You?"

"Nothing. Care if I join you?"

I stepped aside, gesturing for him to come in. "Enter, Harold."

He walked past me, taking my hand as he did and pulling me over to the bed.

"How far are you into it, because I've never seen it before in my life?"

"Far enough for you to understand nothing."

He sighed, lying down and leaving his arms open for me to crawl into. I lay down next to him, his arms wrapping themselves around me.

He pressed a kiss to the top of my head, pulling me tight against him. "You're just lucky I enjoy your company then."

I frowned. He was doing it again. Acting like we were something more but never acknowledging it. Truthfully, I wouldn't mind if we were something more, I just wanted to know where I stood.

I sighed, settling into Harry's arms. We watched TV for a few hours, Harry constantly trying to get me to explain what was going on and me refusing to tell him, enjoying his confusion.

Finally, he gave up trying to understand. He leant down to whisper in my ear. "Come for a swim with me."

I looked up at him, my only protest being, "what about the camera crew?"

He grinned. "They assume that everyone's asleep at this time of night, so they'll all be tucked into bed."

I chewed on my lip for a second before nodding. "Yeah, okay. Just let me get changed."

He nodded in response. "I'll meet you outside your door in ten."

I got ready in record time, thankful that, being Australian, I had more than one set of bikinis as my orange ones were still soaked.

I snatched my white bikinis from my suitcase, throwing a dress on over the top.

Harry leant against the wall next to my door, shirtless once again. Did he even _own_a shirt?

I could feel his eyes on me as I shut the door. "So where are we going, Harold?"

He held out his hand. "Just trust me, you'll like it."

I took his hand, letting him lead me down the stairs and out of the house.

He led me into the town, through the streets full of picturesque houses, the blue rooftops darkened by the night.

We made our way to the dock, sitting on the edge of it and dangling our legs in the water.

Harry took my hands, pulling me to my feet. "Dress off" he murmured, his hand trailing down to the hem of my dress.

I let him pull my dress up over my head, pushing my hair over one shoulder. We slid off the dock, treading water as he pulled me out into deeper water.

He slid an arm around my waist, pulling me close. He tucked a lock of hair behind my ear, leaning in.

I splashed water at him, drenching his hair.

"Ailey!" He laughed, splashing water back at me. He pulled us both underwater, ensuring we were both equally soaked.

He pushed my wet hair out of my eyes, grinning. "We're equal" he said, before kissing me.

I let him kiss me for a few moments before pulling away. "Harry…"

He adopted a worried look. "Ails? I, I thought. I mean, I thought you wanted me to."

I stumbled over my words in a rush to get them out. "I did, I mean I do. I just, at the risk of sounding like an overdramatic teenage girl, what are we?"

He frowned. "I thought it was obvious?"

"Can you tell me anyway?"

"I like you, Ails. A lot. I thought the kissing and groping made that pretty obvious."

"There _was_ a lot of that…" I murmured before turning serious again. "But you're only like that when we're alone, and you don't strike me as the anti-PDA type, Harry."

He sighed, rubbing his thumb in small circles on my waist, pulling me close again. "I'm not, trust me" he grinned. "I just don't know who I can trust with us. I don't want anyone running to the press and telling them." He saw the look on my face and explained. "It's not that I don't want people to know, Ails, I've just seen from the other guys that it's better to ease everyone into the idea of one of us having a girlfriend. I don't want anyone to lash out at you or hurt you."

I nodded my head before resting it on his shoulder. "Okay, you just confused me, is all."

He sighed, playing with my hair. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I should've just talked about it with you. Come on, we should head back."

We swam back to the dock, Harry helping me out of the water. He let me tug my dress over my head before running his hand up and down my waist, hugging me to him.

I looked up at the sky as a few stray drops of water landed on my arm. "It's raining" I mumbled.

Harry looked up, blinking as water landed in his eyes. "So it is…"

Within a few seconds, the rain was pouring down, soaking our dry clothes.

Harry only laughed, cupping my face in his hands. "Come here."

He leant down, kissing me like it was the first time he had kissed me in days.

After a long moment we parted. I smiled. "Kissing in the rain, I could get used to this."


	6. Chapter 6

The next day was when Bootcamp really started again. We were called out of bed at seven, and told to gather in the dining room downstairs.

Andy pulled me down next to her on the couch, in between her and Lottie. Jessie, Tayla, and the other girl who I'd learnt was Cassie sat on another couch.

Over the next two weeks, we'd be singing two songs for Simon, the boys and Cher. We'd sing one song in Greece and before we left, one girl would be sent home. During week two in London, we'd sing our second song and the top six would be narrowed down to the final four. We only had today to prepare this week's song and tomorrow we'd be performing it.

Lottie, Andy, Jessie, the boys and I later crowded into Harry and Louis' room, getting up our iTunes lists.

I sat on the bed in between Zayn and Liam. Liam scrolled through my iTunes, writing down the names of any songs he thought would be good for me in a word document.

Cher, Niall and Andy sat on Louis' bed, Cher and Niall playfully fighting over the laptop.

I looked up from my laptop to see Harry looking at me from across the room; he and Louis were helping Jessie and Lottie.

I bit my lip and looked back down at my laptop, wanting nothing more than for him to be helping me with this and not Liam and Zayn. It sounded terrible, but it was true.

Zayn leant in to whisper in my ear. "He told us, you know." I snapped my head up to look at him, he just smiled back.

Liam nudged me, directing my attention to him. "I've been in this situation before, but it gets better."

I nodded. "With Danielle."

He smiled at the mention of her name. "Exactly. I love her, and that's why I kept her a secret. I never denied that I was dating someone, but I just wanted to ease everyone into it. That way people would accept her."

I smiled. "I understand why it has to be like this, it's just normally the kind of situation I would run away from" I admitted.

Zayn frowned. "You won't, will you?"

I looked over at Harry, biting my lip. "No, I won't" I murmured.

From the list of songs that Liam, Zayn and I combined, we chose a Demi Lovato song, one that would show my voice off just like the Adele song had.

Once we had chosen our songs, and had practised them for a few hours, we spent the rest of the day just hanging out. At one point, Liam and I forced the others to watch two episodes of Friends with us. I had really hit it off with Liam, bonding over our similar situation and love of 80s-90s sitcoms and Disney movies.

We decided to all sleep in Harry and Louis' room, Jessie cooing over how cute it was.

We stayed up late that night, talking for hours until it felt as if we had all been best friends for years.

Waking up on the couch in the morning, I assumed someone had put me there, I felt panic consume me as I realised today was 'Song for Simon' day.

I looked around me at my sleeping friends. I turned my head as I felt someone sit down at my feet.

Harry smiled at me, holding a cup of tea in his hands. "Tea?" He asked, offering me the cup.

"Thanks" I murmured, taking the cup from him.

"Are you ready for today?" He slid his arm around my shoulders, playing with a strand of my hair.

I yawned. "Yeah, I guess. We'll just to wait and see what happens."

A few hours later, the familiar nerves kicked in as I waited to sing for Simon, the boys and Cher.

Cassie, who I'd never spoken to before, sat next to me. She kept looking at me, quite randomly giving me dirty looks.

"You're singing Demi Lovato?" She suddenly asked me.

"Um, yes?" I made it sound like a question, confused by her tone.

"And you think you can pull that off?" I gaped at her, not knowing why she was being so rude.

"Yes, I think I can." I pulled myself together, responding with my dignity still intact.

She huffed, turning away from me as I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at her childishness.

When I was called, the time seemed to speed up and the audition passed in a blur.

I walked back to my room, slightly annoyed that I would have to wait until tomorrow for the result.

Something in me had expected Harry to turn up at my door, but I realised that he probably couldn't see me as he probably already knew the result. Still, the once amazing room now felt too big, and my slight case of agoraphobia kicked in.

I pulled out my baby blanket from my suitcase, cuddling it to me as I tried to sleep. After a few hours of sleepless silence, I heard a knock at the door. Standing outside it were Andy, Jessie and Lottie. Without words, I just opened the door to let them in. We all climbed into my bed, unable to sleep.

We finally fell asleep when the sun had come up, knowing that we'd be unbelievably tired but unable to do anything about it.

The next day, we all sat in the dining room once again, awaiting the result.

I hadn't seen Harry since before my audition, and it was weird knowing that he knew whether I was through or not.

I knew it was wrong to want to see anyone go, but I really hoped that Andy, Jessie, Lottie and I would all make it through to the live shows. We'd all become good friends during bootcamp, and I didn't want that to end.

We were called in one by one again, and I waited patiently in the dining room, the last to find out the result.

I walked into the small room, sitting on the couch next to Simon. I could feel my heart beating in my chest, my nerves uncontrollable.

Simon looked me directly in the eyes, making my already heart rate soar with nerves.

"Ailey, you know that from your first audition, I've thought there was something special about you."

I nodded slightly, biting my lip.

"And I still see that, which is why I'm taking you through to my top five."

I gasped, tears instantly spilling down my cheeks. For an unknown reason, something in me had been telling me that I was going home. And to be proven wrong was, for once, something I was very grateful for.

Simon hugged me, seeing my utter surprise at the result. "You thought you were going home?"

I nodded, unable to speak.

"Why on earth would you think that?"

I shrugged, wiping at my tears. "I don't know. I just…didn't think I was good enough." I hiccupped, tears still sliding down my cheeks.

He hugged me, whispering in my ear. "Go see Harry after you see the girls. I know he wants to see you."

I leant back to look at him, totally shocked. He knew?

"Harry told me" he explained. "Now, go."

I was directed to another room of the house to see who else had gotten through. I faltered at the door, scared that I would open the door and not see one of my friends. I hesitantly opened the door, unsure of what I would find.

"Ailey!" Three voices screamed at me as my three friends wrapped their arms around me.

I laughed out of relief, wrapping my arms around them in a group hug.

After enduring the awkward silence and being death stared by Cassie for a few minutes, Andy, Jessie, Lottie and I decided to go back to our rooms and get ready to go out for dinner later tonight.

I was choosing what to wear when a knock at the door caught my attention. I opened it to find Harry and a bouquet of flowers. "Congratulations, Sweetheart."

I grinned, throwing my arms around his neck, completely disregarding the flowers in his arms as I thanked him.

He picked me up, spinning me around. "You realise that you're going to be on those live shows, right?"

I frowned slightly. "We don't know that for sure" I mumbled self-consciously.

He placed his finger underneath my chin, making me look at him. "With your talent, there's no way you won't get through, Ails. You're a million times better than the other girls. I would know, I've sat through their auditions."

I blushed, avoiding his gaze. He was _way_ too good at making me melt.

"You're coming to dinner tonight, right?"

He smiled. "Of course. The boys and I are going to show you around our little part of Greece."

I smiled, lightly pushing him out the door. "Well, I have to get ready for dinner now, so you have to go."

"You sure you don't want me to stick around and watch?" He winked, smirking at me.

I rolled my eyes. "Get out, Harold."

He leant forward, kissing me quickly. "See you later tonight." He handed me the flowers.

"See you" I smiled, closing the door behind him, placing the flowers in a vase and turning back to my clothing choices.

Later that night, after dinner, we walked along the boardwalk, the boys and Simon pointing out things every so often. I was at the back of the group with Cher, who I had become friends with. She was unbelievably sweet, and gave me great advice to use if I made it to the live shows.

Eventually Jessie struck up a conversation with Cher and Harry slowed down until he was walking next to me, taking my hand. He continued to point out things for me, but he told me stories from when he and the boys had been there.

Like how he and Louis had broken one of the tables at the classy restaurant right on the water, or how Niall had had a laughing fit during an interview at one of the local's houses.

We spent the next three days in Greece, relaxing before packing up and getting ready to make our way to London.


	7. Chapter 7

London wasn't what I expected at all. It definitely wasn't as hot as Australia, but it wasn't covered in snow like I had anticipated. I knew that it was summer, but still, it was _warm_. Which was _weird_.

We got settled at some fancy hotel in the heart of London, getting separate rooms again.

Simon called us into his suite, which was huge in comparison to my already large room, to tell us the plan for the next few days.

We squeezed ourselves onto the couch, waiting to hear what Simon had to say.

"So, tomorrow you'll be singing your second and final song of the home visits. On Tuesday, we'll find out who has made it through to the live shows. Today, though, the boys have volunteered to take you to the studio so that you can experience working in a recording studio."

We all nodded excitedly, practically ready to go already.

Ten minutes later, Andy and I waited for the other girls. I absentmindedly tugged at the hem of my leopard print high-waisted shorts as Andy entertained herself by counted the gold dots on my cream sweater.

The boys came to pick us up, introducing us to their driver, Callum. I was crammed in between Liam and Harry, Liam trying to give me as much space as possible while Harry seemed to be doing the exact opposite.

At the studio, I paused for a moment to simply stare at the building before me.

Harry laughed, taking my hand and pulling me inside.

The other girls had a go in the studio, Cassie complaining that it was too small and she felt cramped, while I bantered with Harry about which song I should sing.

"Well, do you have any of your own?" He suddenly asked me.

When asked something out of the blue, I was generally a terrible liar. And today was no exception.

"What? No, of course not." I stumbled over my words, tightening my grip on my bag that held my notebook full of self-written songs.

Harry leaped forward, trying to pry the bag from my grip.

"No, Harry! Don't. Stop it!" I squealed as he tried to see what I was hiding.

He loosened his hold on my bag. "Please, baby?" I lost my concentration for a second too long, and he snatched the bag victoriously from my grip.

He pulled out my notebook, setting my bag to the side. I groaned, moving to sit next to him so I would at least know which songs he was reading.

"If you don't want anyone to read this, why do you carry it around with you?" Harry mused, smirking.

I shrugged. "I always carry it with me. That way if I come up with any ideas I can write them down."

Harry leafed through the pages, stopping every so often when a lyric or song title would catch his interest.

Finally, he stopped going through the book, pausing at a song I had written only a few days ago. "I like this one. What if we figured out the music behind it and recorded it?"

The idea seemed unimaginable. Recording one of my own songs. "I, I guess. Are we _allowed_ to do that?"

Harry laughed lightly. "That's what a recording studio is for, sweetheart."

I blushed, "you know what I mean."

He smiled, nodding. "Simon won't mind. He'll probably think you're amazing for writing your own songs, actually."

"They're not that good, though" I said, taking the book out of Harry's hands. He took it back, flipping through the pages once more.

"Do you know how hard it is to write songs if you don't have the talent for it? It's hard, Ails. And the fact that you think these aren't good, is simply, well, nuts."

I rolled my eyes before frowning at the piece of paper. "I guess we could try it…"

Two hours later and I was standing in the recording booth, 'laying down the vocal track'. I couldn't believe how good it sounded; I didn't think that we could make something so good out of one of my little songs.

Harry stood standing at the door like a proud mother, overseeing everything.

I exited the booth, sitting down on a chair, ready to hear the final product.

Rob, the guy who had put together the music for my song, smiled at me before playing the song.

I gasped, unable to believe that the voice in the song was mine. It many ways, it sounded exactly as I had imagined it in my head, but Rob and the band had made it so much better.

"I can't believe that's me" I murmured into my hand that was covering my mouth.

When the song was finished, Rob handed me a USB with my song on it. "There's actually one more thing on that memory stick, Ails." Harry said, gesturing to Rob to play whatever was also on the USB.

The track played and I recognized Harry's voice. I smiled as I recognized the familiar melody.

"We recorded it this morning before we picked you guys up" Harry explained, smiling at me.

I had told Harry the other night that I wished there was a full version of him singing Isn't She Lovely, so he had obviously recorded the song in full just for me.

I was silent as the song played, smiling at Harry. We left the studio once it had finished, and I threw my arms around Harry's neck. "Thank you. Really. I love it so much."

Harry smiled, snaking his arms around my waist. "Anything for you, babe."

The boys walked me and the girls back to the hotel, while they went home to their apartments.

"I'll see you tomorrow. You'll be great." Harry whispered in my ear before kissing my forehead and getting back into the car.

I traced the lyrics of Ready to Fly by Amy Pearson onto my thigh as I sat waiting to audition. I pulled at a loose thread on my denim shorts before moving to fidget with the tops of my knee socks.

So, I fidgeted when I was nervous.

I had only really realised this morning that I was one step away from the live shows, when I had applied for the show I never imagined I'd get this far.

I was the last to audition, my nerves skyrocketing as a crew member came to collect me.

I took a deep breath before taking my place in front of Simon, Cher and the boys. Harry, Cher and the boys gave me encouraging smiles, while the crew gave me my microphone.

"Ailey, start when you're ready." Simon smiled at me patiently, waiting for me to start.

After I sang, I was lead to where the other girls were, Andy holding onto my hand so tightly that I thought I would lose all circulation in it.

"I can't believe we don't find out until tomorrow" she muttered as she raked her fingers through her hair.

The next morning I was too nervous to eat breakfast, so I sat at the table chewing on my lip instead.

Once again, we found out individually who had gotten through. And I was beginning to think Simon enjoyed my pain and nerves, as I was the last to find out again.

I walked into the room, my hands and legs shaking so badly that I sat down as quickly as possible to avoid collapsing.

"Ailey, from the first time you sang in your audition I knew you had something special. And as soon as I saw you in my group on day one of Bootcamp, I knew that you would be in my Final Four."

I stared at him, a small smile of hope forming on my face. Did he just say that I was in the Final Four?

He saw my smile, but continued on with his little speech. "I told the boys about you, and that they should look out for you, because I know that you have it in you to win this competition. Ailey, you're in my Final Four."

I leant back on the couch, instantly bursting into tears. Simon laughed, leaning forward to hug me. "You have no idea how talented you are, Ails." I laughed at the nickname, completely overwhelmed.

"Now, go run riot and see the other three girls." I nodded, still crying, getting up and running out of the room, praying that Andy, Jessie and Lottie were also through.

Opening the door, I looked up as I heard someone scream my name. Jessie, Andy and Lottie ran forward to me.

I jumped on Jessie, wrapping my legs around her waist.

"We made it!" Lottie screamed, jumping up and down and pulling Andy into a hug.

Our excitement lasted for the next few hours as we let it settle in that we would be performing on national TV.

Once we had calmed down, we sat talking in Andy's room about what we would do for the next few days in London. Andy rested her head in my lap, worn out from all the excitement. Lottie sat behind me, plaiting my hair. Jessie was energetic as usual, still standing and bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet.

"I sincerely hope you're all decent" came a voice from behind the door as someone opened it.

"We came to celebrate!" Harry said, throwing his arms up in the air before sitting down next to me on the floor.

"We brought food!" Niall said, his mouth slightly full of whatever food they had brought.

Louis had been the one hoping we were decent, and Liam and Zayn quickly made themselves at home on Andy's bed.

For the remainder of the night, we watched movies and relaxed. Niall near force fed me food when he heard that I had skipped breakfast, proclaiming that I was already wasting away.

Eventually everyone but Harry and I had fallen asleep, curled up on the floor with blankets and pillows. He sat with one arm around my waist, the other playing with my hair that he had freed of its plait moments ago.

We put on Love Actually, Harry stealing a blanket off of Andy's bed and wrapping it around both of us.

"I knew you'd get through, from day one of Bootcamp when you spied on Louis and Liam playing the piano."

I smiled. "Oh, yes. And I think I looked really attractive in my Beatles t-shirt, short shorts and ugg boots too."

Harry shrugged. "I thought you did."

I blushed, resting my head on his shoulder.

"You're going to be something big, Ailey, believe me."

I blushed even more, as he just hugged me tighter to him, mulling over his words.


	8. Chapter 8

Wednesday morning, the boys picked us up and we walked over to their apartments, which were only a ten minute walk away. Fans came running up to them, asking for pictures and autographs. Pretty much all of them asked who we were, and they told them that we were Australian singers, something that sounded utterly out of place.

They debated over whose apartment to show us, arguing over it for a good ten minutes before just saying they'd show us all of them.

Niall's was messy and fully stocked with food, Zayn's was almost _too_ clean, and Liam's was currently housing a curly-haired dancer by the name of Danielle.

Liam slipped an arm around her waist, introducing her to Andy, Jessie and Lottie before turning to me. "And this is Ailey."

Her eyes widened in realisation. "Oh, Ailey! The boys have told me about you."

"Mainly Harry" Louis, who was standing behind me, muttered.

Harry gave him a shove. "Shut up, man."

Louis grinned. "I'm just speaking the truth. But I will admit that I feel left out that Eleanor isn't here. You all have your girls here and I don't."

Andy, Jessie and Lottie looked confused, completely unaware of the situation between Harry and me. I just blushed, as Danielle gave me an understanding look.

Eventually, we made it to Harry and Louis' apartment, where Louis leaned against the back of the couch and whispered to me that I should get pre-acquainted with Harry's room. Harry then pushed him over the back of the couch, prompting a full-fledged pillow fight between the two of them. Or more so, a cushion fight, which was slightly more pathetic.

While that was going on, Jessie had somehow found a stash of light sabers, throwing one at me before attacking me with hers.

I laughed, hitting back with my saber, while Niall, Liam, Danielle and Zayn just stood there laughing at us. "They're like girl versions of Harry and Louis!" Danielle exclaimed.

Jessie stopped attacking me for a second to turn and wink at Danielle. "More attractive versions, yes."

"I disagree!" Louis shouted from across the room. Harry just winked at me before throwing another cushion at Louis.

Jessie's light saber hit my shoulder and I dropped mine, faking that it was more than just a possible bruise. "Ails!" Harry shouted, jumping across the couch to come to my rescue.

"Is it…bad?" I asked, biting my lip.

"I can't lose you!" Harry yelled while everyone just laughed at us.

Andy pointed her finger at me. "You! Knock it off!"

Harry helped me up off the floor, leaving his hand on my back when I was upright.

It crossed my mind that if he didn't want the girls to know, we were being slightly obvious, but he didn't seem to mind, so I didn't either.

We ended up going back out onto the streets for a tour of London from the boys.

We were standing in line to get milkshakes when a mob of fans came into the store with their phones already recording.

Andy, Lottie and Jessie instantly scooted out of the way, taking a seat as far away as possible. Danielle took my hand, whispering in my ear. "Follow my lead. Just smile and be friendly. And if they ask who you are, say you're a friend of mine." She winked at me "and then we'll have nothing to worry about them not liking you."

I smiled, letting her lead me towards the fans. I saw one girl fumbling with her camera, obviously wanting a picture.

"Hey, do you want me to take a picture with the boys for you?" The girl looked up, a smile slowly forming on her face.

"That'd be awesome. But, don't you want one?"

"It's no problem. And I came here with them. I'm a friend of Dani's."

Danielle turned around, winking at me.

I called out to the boys, getting them to come over and take a picture with the fan. Harry smiled when he saw me. "So you haven't run off yet?"

I smiled at him. "No, I'm here to stay."

Over the next few days in London, I realised just how much the boys loved their fans, and just how much their fans loved them. Wherever we went, they would gather. I even saw the same fans day after say, dedicating all their time to the boys.

But Friday came, and Bootcamp ended. As I sat at the airport, waiting for our plane home to Sydney, Harry pulled me over to where no one could get a picture of us and hugged me. He checked to see if anyone was looking before giving me a quick kiss. "I'll watch you on YouTube. And we're going to come and perform one week. And we'll tweet and call each other and I'm going to make sure this works."

I smiled, wrapping my arms around his neck. "Me too. We can make this work."

He held me tightly before reluctantly letting go when Simon came over. "The flight's boarding now, lovebirds."

I smiled sadly before turning my back on Harry, giving the other boys, and Cher final hugs. Danielle had even shown up, telling me that she'd miss me. I looked back as I entered the tunnel, waving.

I took my seat on the plane, conflicted as to whether I should be excited for the shows or devastated that I was leaving Harry behind.

I flipped my hair back, pulling it into a ponytail at the crest of my head.

I had just finished rehearsals for the first live shows tonight, and I was exhausted. So far, I had gotten a pretty good response from the public. My video diary from this week already had a few hundred views and there were hundreds of comments on the forums and on my audition video. Episodes of Bootcamp had aired, and to my sick satisfaction the public didn't like Cassie.

This week we were going for simple and understated, so Simon was having me sing Lego House by Ed Sheeran, so that we could 'surprise them with the big stuff later'.

As well as our weekly video diaries, Andy, Jessie, Lottie and I did a video together each week, posting it on my YouTube channel. We'd had to get Simon's approval first, of course.

I quickly had a shower, to get rid of all the sweat I had worked up in rehearsals, before going down to make-up and wardrobe.

As I got my hair curled, I checked my phone for texts from Harry. He had told me that I would definitely hear from him, but he was doing a morning radio show interview in London, so I had no idea how he was going to contact me. Unless he talked to me on air, which would just be embarrassing.

I was in wardrobe getting ready when I discovered how I was going to hear from him. A dozen red roses were delivered to the studio for me, something which caused a massive fuss among the other female contestants. I told them that they were just from family, knowing that Harry and I were still a secret.

I had begged and pleaded until I was number eight on the performance list, needing all the luck I could get.

Soon enough, it was my turn and I stood, smoothing down my skirt as I waited for my cue to start.

"Ailey Corteese!" The voice over called my name and I took my position on the darkened stage.

As the lights came on and the song started to play, I gazed in awe at the audience. A girl waved at me from the front row of the audience and I smiled, waving back before I started to sing.

When the song ended, Luke Jacobz, the host, came over to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders supportively.

I smiled sweetly at the judges, praying that they'd be nice.

First up to speak was Ronan. "Oh, Ailey. That was flawless." I grinned, blushing even more than I already was from the performance. "As much as it pains me to say this, because you're not in my category, I think you'll go very far in this competition."

Next up was Guy, who just smiled at me. He laughed before saying, "damn, I want you in _my_ category."

"You said no to her in the auditions!" Mel B exclaimed, before turning to me. "Ailey, I think you need to be a little bit more confident. Just the teeniest little bit. Because I've seen you backstage, I know how energetic you are!"

I laughed, nodding my head. Last was Simon, who was kind of obligated to give me good comments.

"Well, Ailey. I think that was perfect. I couldn't have asked for any better. You're only fifteen, and to deliver a performance like that in week one is enough to show me that you could win this whole thing."

I smiled at him as Luke turned to me. "So, Ailey, how was that?"

I raised my microphone slightly. "I'm kind of in shock, honestly."

"It looked like you enjoyed that."

I nodded. "Absolutely, that was amazing. If I get to do that week after week I'll be very happy."

Luke turned to the audience. "You heard the girl, vote for Ailey so that you can keep her here week after week. The number is on the bottom of the screen. Give it up for Ailey!"

I smiled, waving, before walking offstage.

Instantly, a backstage camera was shoved in my face. But I was too excited and happy to notice. "That was awesome!" I squealed as Andy, who had already performed, hugged me.

We all stayed backstage, totally hyped up, until all the performances were done and we walked out onto the stage together. Andy and Jessie held onto my hands, Lottie holding onto Jessie's spare one.

I heard my name called a few times and just smiled, slipping my hand out of Andy's for a second to wave.

We spent a few hours signing autographs for fans, and just talking to them. A girl had watched me in Bootcamp and on my video diary and had brought me a stuffed toy dolphin, my favourite. I was stunned that I already had fans after my first real performance, it all felt so surreal.

The next morning, Harry called at ten to talk.

"Hey, sweetheart. Did you get my flowers?"

I smiled, "why yes I did. Thank you so much, they're beautiful."

"I watched your performance. You were amazing, Ails. I wish I'd been there after you got off stage, you must've been so hyped."

I laughed. "I really was. It's such a rush. And there are actual fans already! People had signs for me, Harry. Actual signs!"

Harry laughed. "I think that's something you're going to have to get used to, Baby."

I sighed. "I know, it's just weird thinking it's all for me. I don't deserve it all."

"I don't think you understand just how much you deserve."

I blushed, "you're such a romantic."

"That's me. Your romantic."

I smiled, settling back onto the pillows on my bed. "I'm so glad I don't have to rehearse today, I'm exhausted."

"Yeah, the sleep the day after was always good. I'll call you later, okay?"

I stifled a yawn. "Okay, I'll talk to you later, Babe."

"Sleep tight, Sweetheart."

I hung up, pulling out my iPod and pressing the earphones into my ears. I played Harry's cover of Isn't She Lovely, letting myself fall asleep to the sound of his voice.


	9. Chapter 9

"You were amazing, Baby." For the fourth time running, Harry and I were on the phone the morning after the performance show.

So far, two groups and one of the over 25's had been eliminated. Thankfully, all four girls were still in the competition.

Harry and I had by now formed a ritual of him sending me a surprise gift the night of the show, and talking on the phone the next morning. The gifts were always different, and I was always surprised.

"Yeah, well let's hope I don't get kicked off tonight then," I joked, even though it was a huge fear of mine.

"You'll be fine. You're 'Australia's Sweetheart'. You'll probably be the first through." The press had nicknamed me "Australia's Sweetheart', something I found ridiculously funny as Harry called me sweetheart all the time.

They had also taken to guessing who my boyfriend was, as word had gotten out about my presents.

Some of the favourites in the running included actors, singers and even another contestant on the show, Sean. It was actually quite entertaining waiting to see who they would come up with next.

After my phone call with Harry, the thirteen contestants left in the competition, including me, rehearsed our group performance. Once it was perfect, we went and signed autographs and had a mini meet-and-greet with fans waiting outside the studio. After a few hours of that, it was off to hair, make-up and wardrobe to get ready for the night.

Usually, my surprise gift from Harry would arrive while I was getting ready for the show, but today nothing arrived. I was puzzled, but now worried or annoyed. I'd told Harry a million times that he didn't need to buy me gifts, but he just said that he loved spoiling me.

We were in the cafeteria when we were called to come meet the guest performers of the night. I had almost had a heart attack in the second week when Taylor Swift had arrived, but no one else had really left me starstruck yet.

We met The Script, who I love, before walking off to our individual dressing rooms. I opened the door, instantly being picked up and twirled around, finding none other than One Direction in my dressing room.

Surprise.

I stood there, after Louis had put me down of course, in shock as Niall, Liam and Zayn hugged me. Harry practically ran over to me, pulling me close. "They made me hug you last because they said I'll never let you go again so they wouldn't have gotten a go."

"You know it's true" Zayn stated, smiling.

I shushed him, holding back a laugh as Harry sat down on the couch, pulling me onto his lap.

"So, what are you guys doing here? Not that I'm not glad to see you."

Harry laughed, playing with my hair. Louis sat down on the couch opposite us. "We're impulsive. And the guest performers next week."

"Wait, what! You're performing next week?"

The boys laughed, "yes, they're announcing it tonight like always."

I left for the group performance, but came back to the boys for a bit while two of the guest performers were on. Eventually, though, it was time to go hear the results.

We walked onstage holding hands as usual, Simon walking behind us.

Luke stood to the side of the stage, the ominous looking envelope in his hand.

"I can now reveal that the first safe tonight is…Sean Davidson!"

Sean whooped, hugging Ronan before exiting the stage. Eleven more spots until the bottom two.

"I can also reveal that tonight will be a double elimination." Great, make that ten more spots.

Andy squeezed my hand, shaking from nerves just like I was.

"The next two contestants through are…Charlotte Montgomery and Jess Henley!"

Lottie and Jessie squealed, hugging us as they left the stage. Andy and I linked arms, holding on tightly to each other. I bit my lip, praying that I would be the next contestant called.

"And the next contestant through, will be revealed after this ad break."

I bit my lip, my hands and legs shaking. Simon put an arm around my shoulders, something unusual for him but still welcomed.

The ad break was excruciating, but eventually it was over.

"And back to the results. The next contestant through is… Ailey Corteese!"

I almost cried out of relief. I wrapped my arms around Andy, hugging her tightly.

Harry was waiting for me as I got off stage, and he pulled me tightly against him, not letting me go for a good five minutes.

By then, one more group and one more over 25 had been called.

Eventually, it was down to just Andy, a group, and two under 25 boys.

"Come on Andy." I muttered, practically clinging to Harry as I prayed that she would get through. Not that he seemed to mind.

"Okay, the last person safe from this week's bottom three is…Andy Lott!"

I let out the breath I'd been holding as Andy came running off the stage, Simon tagging along after her.

I broke my hold on Harry to hug her as she near crash tackled me.

We soon remembered that two acts were still going home tonight, and we quickly turned serious again.

The three acts performed and eventually it was decided through the judges that one of the under 25 boys, Sammy, would be the act to stay another week.

We all went up on stage to say our goodbyes, Lottie in tears as the other under 25 boy that she had become close to, Aaron, said his goodbyes.

I was sad that they were leaving, but I was also so thankful to be staying for another week. Five acts had already left, leaving only eleven. And knowing that there would be more double eliminations due to the higher number of contestants this year, my place in the competition was more uncertain than ever.

I sat with Andy, Jessie and Lottie, watching the boys rehearse for their guest performance.

We had been told previously that this week was actually a triple elimination; something I had thought was unheard of. Obviously the public loved it when more than one person left. Votes fuelled the show, after all.

Lottie leaned over to whisper to us, "gosh, Harry is so hot. You think I'd have a shot?"

I stayed silent while the other girls told her how she should ask him out, one of my hands balled into a fist with my nails digging into my palm.

After the boys had finished rehearsing, we went up onstage. Lottie instantly made her way over to Harry, obviously ready to take Andy and Jessie's advice.

Everyone seemed drawn to them, not letting them talk privately like I knew Lottie wanted to.

She sighed before launching into the question. "Harry, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go out sometime?"

Liam, Niall, Zayn and Louis all looked at me, waiting for my reaction. I just looked at Harry, whose expression was a mixture of disbelief and amusement. I waited to see what he would say, knowing that he wouldn't admit that we were together.

Which was slowly getting to me. I was his, but I never really felt like he was mine. I definitely didn't mind sharing him with the fans; it was just the fact that no one knew he was mine to share that bugged me.

"I'm sorry Lottie, but I have a girlfriend."

I stared at him in shock. He said what now?

Luckily Andy, Jessie and Lottie were confused too, otherwise it would've been obvious that I knew something they didn't.

"Really? Who?" Lottie asked, instantly curious.

Harry rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Well, I've been keeping it a secret for two months now. I'm just kind of going to try to get the fans used to the idea of it before I tell everyone who she is. I'm not just going to throw her into the whole 'Harry Styles girlfriend' thing. She means more to me than that." I saw that he was trying to avoid looking at me when he said the last bit.

Jessie ruined the moments, sighing and saying "aw. That's cute as".

Louis stifled a laugh, shifting his eyes to me and then back again.

Later that night, the ten other remaining contestants and I opened the show with our group performance. But this week was different. Half way through the performance the boys appeared on the stage, taking over the vocals.

As expected, all the teenage girls in the crowd went mad. I couldn't help but laugh as some of the girls took it too far. Andy, who stood next to me, laughed along as we hoped the camera didn't film us laughing.

After the song had ended, we all moved to the centre of the stage, Luke coming out with his microphone at the ready.

Louis and Liam sneakily moved me so that I was standing next to Harry, who put his arm around my waist. I looked around me, making sure that it was hidden from the cameras. We were getting quite good at being sneaky.

After the safe contestants had been called, and the final group and two over 25's went home, we all gathered in the Xtra Factor room for the after show interview.

They asked the usual questions, and we answered lots of tweets and phone calls. But even though I had hoped they wouldn't bring it up, they finally got onto the topic of my mystery boyfriend.

"So, Ailey. Another week and another present. What did you get this week?" The presenter passed the microphone over to me, but Jessie intercepted it, knowing that I would deny getting anything.

"She got a new necklace. She took the note away before we could read it but we saw the word anniversary."

Everyone in the room 'awed', making me blush.

"Ooh, what type of necklace. Give us the details, Ailey."

Again, Jessie interrupted. "It was a silver heart pendant."

I resisted the urge to hide my face in my hands as the presenter demanded to know why I wasn't wearing it, to which I did hide my face as everyone laughed.

"So what anniversary is it?" The presenter asked. I bit my lip, unsure of what to say. If I said two months, the girls would probably catch on.

Luckily, the presenter gave up. "Oh, she's not going to tell us Australia!"

I gave a small awkward smile, glad that the topic was over.

"Now, all week we've had you voting for the lucky contestant who is going to interview One Direction for us, giving them your questions. And now we have the results."

The room went quiet, waiting for the result.

"Ailey Corteese!"

I laughed at the irony of it. The whole point was to give someone the chance to meet them, but I knew them _very_ well.

I was directed to a small room where the boys sat, a laptop with the questions sitting before an empty chair.

"Ails!" They all chorused as I walked into the room. I smiled and sat down in my designated seat, pulling the laptop towards me.

I looked over at the camera, smiling. "Well, I have _a lot_ of tweets that fans have sent in, so let's start on those. And then we can take a phone call or two."

The tweeted questions were going really well, until I came across the twelfth one. "So, boys, who here is single?"

Niall and Zayn raised their hands. Harry rubbed his jaw, something I now knew as a sign of awkwardness for him.

Knowing that I was expected to elaborate, I continued. "So that's Danielle and Eleanor, and…" I raised an eyebrow at Harry, hoping that my acting skills were up to par.

Harry rubbed his thigh, "well, we've been dating for two months now, but I'm not really ready to tell everyone who she is yet."

I nodded, glad for the opportunity to move on. "Okay, onto the next question."

After we had finished with the questions, we moved onto the phone calls. Which was, admittedly, a bad idea.

"Harry, tell us about your girlfriend!" the overexcited fan screamed down the phone.

Harry once again rubbed his jaw. "Well, I think she's amazing. She's absolutely perfect." Knowing that I was on live national TV and that this was probably being watched all around the world, I tried to control my reaction. I knew that I was blushing, but I just hoped that no one would notice.

"Who is she? Tell us!"

Harry rubbed his cheek and nose, glancing at Louis to stop himself from looking at me. I inwardly laughed, knowing that the Larry Stylinson shippers would go nuts over that glance.

"Well, umm, I think we're just going to keep it private until we're ready to tell everyone."

"I'm sure she wants everyone to know. What girl wants to hide her relationship, let alone her relationship with a member of One Direction?" I looked down at the table. Harry and I hadn't talked about how I felt about the keeping it quiet thing, and I knew that those words would get to him.

"Well, I don't want to keep her a secret. I honestly want to go up to everyone and tell them. Because I can't believe that I'm dating her because she's amazing and gorgeous and perfect. But I'm waiting to tell everyone because I'm worried she'll get hate for it."

The fan 'awed', signalling the end of her phone call.

"Bye! We love you!" They all called into the phone before hanging up.

Knowing that I couldn't outright tell him that I understood why things were the way they were and that I couldn't just hug him for what he had said about me being perfect and gorgeous and amazing, I settled for looking at the camera and saying "wasn't that sweet. What a lucky girl Harry's girlfriend must be."


	10. Chapter 10

The next morning, I walked into the kitchen and stole a spoonful of cereal out of Andy's bowl. She just laughed, pulling me down into the chair next to her.

"News time, children." Said Mike, the only over 25 left in the competition. He was in his thirties, and treated us like we were his adopted children.

We all playfully complained throughout the news until the entertainment segment came on.

"And pictures from last night's X Factor have sparked rumours of a romance between contestant Ailey Corteese and One Direction band member, Harry Styles."

If I had been holding something, I would have dropped it. As it was, I just gasped, resisting the urge to yell, "what!"

I could feel everyone's eyes on me, but I just looked at the TV screen. It pulled up pictures form last night of Harry's arm around my waist during the group performance, taken from the back of the stage. It then showed small clips from the interview and Xtra Factor, of me blushing during the interview, me getting questioned about my boyfriend and Harry talking about his girlfriend.

"It is public knowledge that these two have secret relationships, but could it be that they are fact involved with each other? Let us know what you think on twitter."

I instantly leapt off the couch and ran up to my room. I pulled my laptop off the desk, sitting down on my bed and setting it in my lap. I opened twitter, checking my mentions, holding my breath the whole time.

I quickly scanned the page, surprised and relieved to find next to nothing rude or mean. As far as I could see, the only thing anyone was saying was that I was probably too young for him anyways. Which was, honestly, quite funny.

Everyone else was saying that they thought I was pretty, which got a raised eyebrow and a scoff out of me, and that they were jealous. No death threats or anything of the like.

I opened another tab, going to the posts tagged Harry Styles on tumblr.

People had posted the pictures from last night, getting hundreds of comments on them. Most people were just speculating if we were going out or not, and others had said how much they loved me and put up my video diaries and other behind the scenes footage of me.

Someone had somehow gotten their hands on pictures of Harry and I from bootcamp, saying that we had in fact know each other for over two months.

My phone went off, Harry's name and picture coming up on the screen.

I accepted the call, taking a deep breath before answering. "Hi, Harry."

"Are you okay? Did you see the news?" He sounded panicked, and I knew that he was just worried about me.

I nodded before realising he couldn't see me. "Yeah, I'm on twitter and tumblr now."

He groaned. "No one's being mean to you, are they? Because anytime there have been rumours before people have attacked."

I smiled. "Yes, but that's when the person the rumour involved was well into their thirties. People are being…nice. They're just wondering if we're dating or not."

"We're scheduled for an interview in a half hour, we're on the way to the studio now, and I know they're going to bring it up. So I'll deny it, say we're just really close friends?"

I scrunched my eyes shut, pinching the bridge of my nose. "If that's what you think you should do, then okay."

He was silent for a moment. "Ails, do you want to hide us?"

I sighed. "It's a complicated situation, Harry. I get why we have to."

He groaned. "I hate putting you through this! I don't want to hide it, but I want to protect you."

I sighed again, wiping my face with my hand. "Well, we can say we're close friends for now and just see how the fans react. If they react well, we can go from there."

He was silent, and I knew he was thinking it through. "Okay. So I'll say we're close friends and just try to give a roundabout answer when they ask me if we're dating. I don't want to actually say we're not dating. I don't want to lie."

"Okay. Well, I'm meant to do a video diary today, so I'll say the same thing."

"Okay. Ailey?"

I paused as I was about to say goodbye. "Yeah?"

"I'm sorry you have put up with all of this because of me."

I smiled. "Harry, I wouldn't put up with it if you weren't worth it. But you are."

"Talk later?"

"Always."

I hung up, placing the phone on my bedside table. I walked back downstairs, where everyone was sitting at the kitchen table once again.

"You alright?" said Jace, one of the boys.

I nodded. "Yeah, Harry's and the boys are going to an interview today and he's going to explain it."

Andy looked at me. "He had his arm around you" she said, stating the obvious.

I smiled, legitimately entertained by her shock. "Yeah, we're friends. Have you seen the way he acts with Louis? They're an affectionate bunch."

Jessie laughed, raising her glass. "Amen."

Later, I took my position in the diary room chair for my weekly video diary.

The red light stopped flashing, staying just red, signalling to me that it was recording.

I smiled, waving. "Hi!

So this week was really hectic. We didn't expect the triple elimination at all. We thought that we'd maybe have another double elimination in a few weeks, but then they sprung that on us." I laughed, bending down and picking up the stack of cards from the floor.

"So, we've gotten a massive _surge_ of twitter questions this morning, so I thought I'd answer them first and then get on to the ones from the rest of the week."

I read the first one. "What's going on with Harry and me? Well, I met the boys in Bootcamp, and we've become friends. I'm close with them all; they're some of my best friends. And yes Harry did put his arm around me last night, but have you seen him with the boys? Namely, Louis?" I gave the camera a pointed look.

"They're an affectionate bunch." I knew that I was repeating my words from earlier, but it was the best thing I could think of to say.

I answered the rest of the questions and finished up my video diary, glad to have it over and done with for once. Normally I didn't want it to end, but denying rumours was a weird experience for me, and harder than I thought it would be.

The next morning, I watched the boys' interview. It had been aired surprisingly quickly and Harry did much the same as I did, saying that we were close friends but never actually denying that we were dating.

I watched twitter and tumblr over the next few days, laughing at how the tumblr girls didn't believe us one little bit. Surprisingly, they were all rooting for us to get together. We even had a name, 'Hailey'.

I just hoped that their support meant that Harry and I wouldn't have to hide much longer.


	11. Chapter 11

A few weeks later, and the rumours about Harry and me were still circulating. People were constantly coming up with new theories as to whether or not we were dating.

We were in week nine of the competition, and next week was the final. There was only Andy, Jace, Mike and me left. My nerves were higher than ever, and I legitimately felt like throwing up. Tonight was the results show, and a place in the final three was at stake.

I had just gotten off the phone with Harry, and he had joked about how, if I got through tonight, I would be equal with him and have gotten to at least third. He had also added that he thought I had a good chance of winning the whole thing, something I tried to block out of my brain; it only made me nervous.

We had been dating for over three months now, and I was glad that he had been through this whole experience before. He was who I turned to whenever I just needed to vent about the competition. Thankfully, because Simon owned the show, he had managed to make it so that the cameras couldn't film me making contact with Harry; which happened every day.

I fiddled with the tops of my knee-socks as I sat in hair and make-up. As usual, my hair was being curled, and I tried not to move my head while simultaneously trying to check my phone for messages from Harry. I stopped playing with my socks and moved to play with my silver heart necklace that I never took off.

Through my nerves, I had forgotten that Harry would, as usual, send me something tonight.

So when a small box was placed next to me, I looked at it with confusion, unsure until Andy leant over and said "ooh, something from your boyf?"

I laughed, taking the small box and lifting the lid. Inside was a silver bracelet that matched my necklace, with my name etched onto it. Andy squealed that my boyfriend must be loaded, jumping up to get a better look at it. All I could think was that I was going to throttle him for spending so much money on me, and then promptly snog his face off. Yes, I had spent so much time talking to him that I had started to use English slang.

I got Andy to put the bracelet on my wrist before we both made our way to the stage.

Mike, who was normally very impassive during the results shows, came over and hugged Andy, Jace and me before we walked onto the stage.

Andy squeezed my hand so hard I thought I was losing circulation as we stood onstage with Simon. I didn't mind though, I just squeezed back.

Luke stood there with his microphone, looking slightly nervous too.

"Okay, Australia. You've seen some wonderful performance tonight, but now it's time to find out who will be your final three.

The first contestant through to the finals is…Mike Braithwaite!"

Mike looked like he could collapse out of relief, coming over to hug all of us once again, murmuring "good luck".

Andy shuffled closer to me, near crushing my fingers.

"And the next contestant through is…"

Please say my name. Please say my name. Please say my name.

"Jace Caldwell!"

I could've cried. Andy and I would be split up. We had become so close, and now we were up against one another.

"Australia, may I remind you that the contestants are being called in no particular order."

Luke walked over to us, and I knew he intended to ask us how we were coping.

As if I was suddenly psychic, he held up the microphone for Andy, asking "so how do you feel about being up against Ailey?"

Andy sniffed, and I knew that she too was close to tears. "Well, we've become really close, so it's hard knowing that we can't both go through like we wanted to."

Luke turned to me, and I just nodded, biting my lip to stop the tears that I could feel threatening to run down my face.

Simon stood behind us, putting an arm around each of our shoulders.

"And the final contestant though to the final is…"

Oh gosh, I think I'm going to throw up.

"Ailey Corteese!"

I fell to the floor, completely overwhelmed. I started crying, partially because I was through and partially because my best friend wasn't.

I got back on my feet, Andy instantly hugging me, crying aswell.

"I'm so sorry." I mumbled, even though I wasn't sorry at all that I was through. I just wished we were both through.

"Don't be. We'll still make it big together, okay?"

I nodded, smiling slightly at our promise.

Jace and Mike came onstage to say goodbye to Andy, Simon hugging me in congratulations.

"You made it, Ails. What did I tell you?"

I nodded, wiping away tears and taking a deep breath.

I pulled the covers of my bed over my head, not wanting to wake up just yet.

Today was the big finale of X Factor, where I would learn if I had won or not.

Rehearsals would take all day, practising our potential winner's single. It was a bit weird, because I usually wrote all my own songs.

A knock on my door forced me to wake up. I groaned, pushing the covers back and sitting up. I trudged to the door, opening it with the best smile I could manage on my face.

"Morning, Ailey. Looks like your present came early this time."

I looked beside the delivery man to where a huge box sat. My eyes very nearly bulged out of my head. "Oh my gosh, it's huge."

He only laughed, used to my reactions.

With the help of a crate lifter, he hauled the box inside my room, before leaving me alone with it.

I sighed, still in shock from the enormity of it. What was it, a whole box full of flowers? Or worse, something more expensive like jewellery? I crept over to the box, slowly lifting the top of it.

"Boo!" I screamed, jumping back before quickly closing the space again and throwing my arms around my assailant.

"Harry!"

He laughed, wrapping his arms around my waist and resting his head on top of mine. "Hey, Ails."

We stood like that for a minute before I stepped back so that he could get out of the box. "You scared me" I said accusingly, pouting at him.

He just laughed, walking over to me and running his thumb across my jutted out lower lip before giving me a kiss.

I sighed as he reluctantly pulled away. "So, what has my finalist got planned for the day?" He asked, wrapping his arms around me again.

I rested my head on his chest. "Rehearsals, lots and lots of rehearsals."

He ran his fingers through my hair. "Mind if I join you?"

I smiled. "Yeah, you can come, but you'll probably get bored."

"I haven't seen you, my girlfriend, properly in ages. I don't care what we do."

I blushed. "Well, then. Come on." I took his hand, sitting him down on the bed as I walked into the bathroom to get changed. "Are the boys here too? Because it'll look really suss if you're here at the finale tonight and they're not." A thought struck me and I peeked my head back into the bedroom. "You are going to be there tonight, right?"

He nodded, smiling. "Yes, they're getting here in a couple of hours, and yes, we'll all be there tonight."

I nodded. "Thank God for that."

Many rehearsals later, I zipped up my white leather dress and slid my feet into my towering black heels.

I pulled my hair out of the neckline of my dress, letting it fall over my shoulders.

"You decent yet, Ails?" Harry was standing outside my door, refusing to go wait with the boys like I told him to.

I smiled, checking myself in the mirror. "Yes, you can come in now."

He was inside in seconds, shutting the door behind him. He stared at me for a second before saying. "Holy…wow."

I smiled, winking at him. "You like?"

He grinned, coming over and entwining his arms around my waist. "Very much so."

I smiled, before noticing something new. "I'm a decent height now. Finally."

He smirked. "Yes, so I don't have to lean down as much to do this." He leant down, kissing me. I pulled back after a few seconds, but he kissed me again, tightening his grip on my waist.

I pulled away again, smiling. "Control your hormones, boy." I said playfully.

He pouted. "I'll try, but with you wearing that dress I don't know if I can."

I rolled my eyes. "Now you know what I go through when you get all dressed up for an awards show with your bow tie and everything."

He raised an eyebrow, smirking again. "Note to self: wear bow ties more often."

I grinned as I walked over to the door, opening it. "And sweaters and plaid shirts…"

He followed me out the door, grinning. "Definitely wear those more often just for you."

I nodded in thanks. "I appreciate it."

He looked down at my neck. "I love how you always wear that." He reached up to tug at my necklace, smiling.

I lifted up my wrist where the bracelet he gave me was. "And this too."

He continued to smile, taking my hand and linking our fingers together. "Come on, Miss Finalist, time for the show."

An hour later, I stood on the stage, waiting to see who had gotten third place.\

I had spent the entire week watching new reporters say how I was the favourite to win, and listening to Simon and members of the crew say that they thought I had it in the bag. But I had never felt more unsure of anything in my life.

I knew Harry and the boy were in the crowd, and I wanted nothing more than to walk off stage and find them.

"And in third place we have…Mike Braithwaite!"

I held back a sigh of relief, hugging Mike instead. "Go get 'em, Girly" he said into my ear, smiling.

Mike walked over to Luke and they talked for a few minutes before Mike left the stage.

"And after this ad break we will find out who you, Australia, have chosen as your winner."

Jace and both looked at each other, smiling because we knew both of us were holding back groans of annoyance.

After the ad break, Luke spent ten minutes talking to the judges about who they thought would win. Of course, Simon and Guy both said their acts would win.

I was surprised to hear Ronan and Mel B both say my name. I smiled in thanks, wanting nothing more than to just hear the verdict.

"So, Australia. It's time to hear who your winner is."

Jace turned to me, mouthing "you". I shook my head slightly, mouthing back "no, you".

"And your winner is…"

I held my breath.

"Jace Caldwell!"

The whole room was silent for a second before erupting into applause. Jace and I both stood still, until I turned to him, wrapping my arms around his neck.

"You won, Jacey!"

He snapped out of his moment of shock, wrapping his arms around my waist and lifting me off my feet.

Confetti rained down and the air was filled with screaming, but I wanted nothing more than to run off stage and cry. Preferably in my boyfriend's arms. My boyfriend who I couldn't tell anyone about.

Everything came crashing down on me, and I knew that I was falling apart, keeping a smile on my face as I did.

A member of the crew came to guide me off stage as Jace got interviewed. As soon as I was off the stage, I burst into tears.

I was guided back to my dressing room, where I curled up in a chair and cried. I heard thundering footsteps and the door being flung open.

Harry wrapped his arms around me, lifted me up off the chair so that he could sit me on his lap.

We sat like that for a half hour, me just crying my eyes out while he told me it would all work out.


	12. Chapter 12

Harry laughed lightly as he rubbed my back. "You know, you got further than me and the boys."

I gave a rather sad excuse for a laugh while simultaneously sniffing. I should probably be more worried about how terrible I must look right now, but I was wearing waterproof mascara and I had a right to cry.

A knock on the door caught both of our attention. One of the crew members opened the door, giving me a sympathetic smile. "Simon wants to see you in his dressing room."

I nodded before looked at Harry. The look on his face told me that he knew exactly what was going on. "What does he want?" I asked.

Harry looked down at me, shrugging innocently. I raised an eyebrow before standing up, him following suit. "Okay, I get it. I'll go find out for myself then."

He smiled. "Come here first." He pulled me against him again, wrapping his arms around me tightly. "Everything will work out, trust me, Sweetheart."

I just let him hold me for a second before pulling away and sighing. I kissed his cheek before walking out of the room and towards Simon's dressing room.

Once inside, Simon looked at me for a long moment. Then he stepped forward and hugged me.

"You were great, Ails, and I couldn't have asked any more of you. And, you beat the boys."

I laughed lightly at how everyone was pointing that out before sitting down on one of the couches.

Simon sat down across from me, resting his chin on his knuckles. "Now, Ailey. You were amazing on the show. And you've developed quite a fanbase." I nodded, thinking of all the views on my videos.

"And I think that even though you didn't win, you still have that one thing that makes you a superstar."

I just looked at him, not quite catching on.

"That's why in the morning, Sony want to sign you."

I gasped, instantly bursting into tears again. "Are you kidding me? What?"

Simon laughed. "And we can negotiate with this deal so that you can write your own songs and have more freedom with your music."

By this point, I was practically bawling my eyes out while at the same time jumping up and down with excitement. Simon looked amused by my reaction. "Gosh, you're worse than Harry was two years ago."

I laughed, feeling like everything had worked out and that, even though I didn't win, I was getting a better deal anyways.

Simon stood up. "And, in possibly even better news, we're going to need to fly to London tomorrow to get you signed." I balked. London? _Oh yeah._

"And, since because of the whole Hailey fiasco you've developed quite a fanbase in Europe, Sony will be providing you with an apartment in London and you'll have pretty much the same schedule as the boys." He smiled at me innocently, as if he hadn't just told me the most amazing news of my life.

"Oh, and you can bring a friend. So I've already called Andy, who is also being signed tomorrow. She's going to meet us at the airport."

I squealed, running to him and hugging him. He may seem like an arse sometimes, but he was my hero right now.

"Now go find Harry and make out with him or something."

I laughed, hugging him again before running out of the room and back to my dressing room.

Harry stood in the middle of the room, arms open for me. I ran into them, wrapping me legs around his waist as he lifted me up.

"You knew!" I accused, wrapping my arms around his neck.

He put me down, dancing around with me. "You're getting signed, you're getting signed."

I laughed like an idiot, letting him lead me around the room.

"I'm also getting an apartment in London and bringing Andy with me."

Harry stopped dancing, obviously not knowing that part.

"What?"

I smiled, "yeah, Sony's going to pay for an apartment for me and Andy, who's also getting signed."

He grinned, spinning me around. "We're going to see each other all the time!"

I laughed. "I thought you liked our long distance thing we had going on?" Harry had mentioned to me once that he liked being away from me for ages, because it made every moment we did send together amazing.

"Screw that, I'm going to get to see you all the time now!" I laughed at him as he got possibly more excited than me.

The next morning at the airport, Andy near crash tackled me, giving me a bone-crushing hug. "Ails!"

I laughed, hugging her back.

She pulled away, giving me a mock accusing look. "Simon told me about you and Harry. Why didn't you tell me?"

I laughed. "I wanted to, but I couldn't. And admit it, you kind of knew!"

She laughed, "I had an inkling."

We spent the next twenty-four hours in board rooms, negotiating contracts before being signed. I was thankful that Simon was with us, as he made sure we got the best possible deal.

Finally, he took us to our new apartment. We both stood just inside the doorway, mouths open wide as we stared around before turning to each and high-fiving.

Simon laughed, handing me a piece of paper. "That's my phone number. Call me if you need it. Don't, and I repeat _don't_ give the boys it. They're not allowed it."

I raised an eyebrow questioningly, but decided that I probably didn't want to know.

We waved Simon off before running around the apartment like mad women, determined to explore every nook and cranny.

Finally, I near collapsed into my new king-sized bed from exhaustion, feeling totally content and fulfilled.

Andy and I collapsed onto Louis and Harry's couch, exhausted from the performance we'd just done at a benefit for Children In Need.

It had been a month since we'd moved to London, and it was still weird being sixteen and on our own.

I had only turned sixteen a few months ago during the competition, and Andy had turned sixteen during Bootcamp.

We had received a massive amount of support since being here, the fans were incredible. Especially when we were out with the boys, which was all the time.

The rumours about Harry and I were only fuelled by this. It was common knowledge that we were both dating _someone_; it was just a mystery as to _whom_.

We'd been hiding it for over four months now, and it was getting increasingly harder as we were becoming closer and more obvious. There were blogs dedicated to posting pictures of us together, just waiting for the moment when they could post a picture of us slipping up and holding hands or something.

Harry sat down beside me, pulling me head onto his lap. He ran his fingers through my hair as I slowly fell asleep.

I woke up in Harry's bed, a common occurrence now. Andy had gone home, and Harry lay beside me, an arm thrown over my torso.

I could hear Louis and Eleanor's voices in the kitchen, so I decided to go get something to eat.

I gently pried Harry's arm off of me and got out of bed, trying not to giggle as he automatically started fumbling around for me in his sleep.

As I approached the kitchen, I could make out what Louis and Eleanor were saying.

"They can't keep hiding it. I mean, everyone knows. It's only hurting them now." Eleanor was obviously talking about Harry and me.

"Harry just wants to wait; he doesn't want anything to happen to her."

"I don't believe you. The fans love Ailey; they're rooting for them to go public."

Louis sighed. "Honestly, I think he's worried she'll get overwhelmed and leave, El."

I knitted my eyebrows together, confused. Harry thought I would just get up and leave? Obviously he didn't know me too well. I had put up with keeping secrets for him for over four months, and he still thought I wasn't serious?

I walked back to Harry's room, where he was now awake. He smiled at me as I walked into the room, but that quickly turned to confusion as I grabbed my shoes and turned back to the door.

"Ails? What's up?"

I paused at the door. "You really think I'm going to just get up and leave after waiting around for four months?"

Recognition highlighted his features and he opened his mouth to explain, but I ignored him, walking to the front door. Eleanor and Louis were still talking about us, and they went silent as I walked past them.

"Ailey!" Harry called after me, obviously slowed down by his trying to find a shirt.

I unlocked the front door, walking out of the house. Harry caught up to me, grabbing my arm. "Ailey, stop!"

I whirled around. "Four months, Harry. I've spent four months waiting around. I thought you were just worried about the fans, but they don't care! And then I hear Louis say that you think it's because I'm going to leave?" I glared at him.

He groaned, rubbing his jaw. "What do you want me to say, Ailey? Because it's true. I don't want to tell everybody and then have us break up."

"You really think I'd do that?"

"I don't know, Ailey! Jesus Christ, I don't know!"

"Well, you're an idiot!"

"Oh, stop being such a bitch!"

I stared at him, lost for words. He never called people names, so when he did, he meant it.

"Ails…" he reached for me, trying to apologise. I just pushed him away, shaking my head.

"You think I'm going to leave, well here you go." And with that I turned around, walking home, crying the whole time.


	13. Chapter 13

I reach for the necklace on my neck, sighing when I realised it wasn't there.

I had taken it and my bracelet off as soon as I got home from Harry's, and two days later I still wasn't used to not having it around my neck.

Harry had left countless voicemails, texting and calling at least once an hour. The boy was persistent, but I was stubborn.

I didn't really mind the hiding so much, as long as it was for a good reason. But overhearing Louis and Eleanor's conversation had made me feel like he just didn't trust me. Like he didn't believe that I was as invested in our relationship as he was.

I stood in the kitchen of Andy's and my apartment, forgetting what I had come for.

I sighed, turning around and walking into the living room, where I was watching episodes of Full House.

Andy came walking out of her bedroom. "We should start getting ready, Ails."

I sighed, turning off the TV. The boys were performing tonight, and even though Harry and I were, well I didn't really know what we were at the moment. But, whatever we were, I knew that he'd be absolutely devastated if I didn't show up.

I wasn't really angry anymore, just upset that he didn't know how much I had invested into our relationship.

In my room, I fastened my necklace around my neck and my bracelet around my wrist. It felt good to have them back, it was weird not having them on.

At the concert, we watched from a designated seating area. Cher Lloyd was there, as were many other celebrities that I now knew.

As usual, the sound was deafening throughout the concert. Generally, the boys didn't bother to quieten the crowd, instead revving them up ay every chance possible. But this time, after they had finished singing One Thing, they waiting until the crowd was quiet to address the crowd.

Harry stepped forward, looking nervous.

"Hi, guys. I know this is a bit unusual, but just bear with me for a minute.

Now, you all know that for a few months now, four and a half months in fact, I've been dating someone."

I raised an eyebrow, looking over at Andy. She just shrugged, as confused as me.

"Well, it was wrong of me to hide her. Not just because it was unfair to you, but because it was unfair to her. I was scared that you wouldn't love her as much as I do."

There was a chorus of "aww"s from the crowd, quickly followed by silence as everyone waited to see what Harry had up his sleeve, me included.

"And I was scared that she didn't love me as much as I love her."

Andy elbowed me, mouthing 'love?' It was then that I realised he had mentioned love at least twice during his little speech.

"But that was silly of me, because she's done nothing but stick by me, and put up will all the complications that come with me. So, I need to apologise to her for being a jerk, and this, her favourite song of ours, is for her."

Liam stepped forward, singing the first lyrics to Moments, a song that I listened to incessantly.

I smiled, watching Harry as he continued to near shake from nerves. It was then that I realised what he was planning to do. I had gotten mad that he didn't trust me enough to tell everyone that we were dating, so that was exactly what he was going to do. I just didn't know how.

It came to Harry's solo, and as the boys started singing the chorus, a video appeared on the screen at the back of the stage.

The boys had a habit of filming everything, plus the fact that everything I did during X Factor had been filmed.

The video was of me and Harry, clips of us together, the crowd going wild as the rumours were proved true.

It showed me and Harry just lying together on the couch, me wrapped up in his arms. Next, it showed the time that I had attempted to make a cake while Niall had done everything possible to eat it all as it was made. Harry stood next to me, laughing and protecting the cake and me every so often.

After that, the clip changed to Harry and me walking hand in hand, Harry lifting up his arm and putting it around my shoulder while still holding onto my hand.

The clips continued to change, one actually showing a clip of when Harry and I had gotten caught kissing on camera by Louis.

As the song ended, the confetti cannons went off, raining down confetti on all the screaming girls.

I could feel all the V. staring at me, waiting for me to react. Finally, Andy slapped me lightly on the head, saying "go snog your boyfriend, now!"

I did as I was told, the crew helpfully directing me backstage. I waiting in Harry's dressing room for him, and finally the door opened and he walked in, head down with a dejected expression on his face.

I stood up, catching his attention.

"Ails?"

I walked over to him and threw my arms around him. He wrapped his arms around me instantly, holding me tightly to him as if he would never let me go.

"I'm so sorry, Ails. I should've never said any of those things and I should've never doubted you." He rambled on, and I covered his mouth with my hand.

"I love you too."

He smiled, knowing that I had picked up on that.

He lifted me off of my feet, saying "I love you" over and over again.


	14. Chapter 14

"Are they filming us?" I leant into Harry's side as we stood in the candy isle of the convenience store, his hand on the small of my back.

He laughed lightly, inconspicuously checking to our right where a teenage girl was standing, holding up her phone, trying to hide that she was filming us. "Yep, I think so."

"Why? We're buying candy; won't that be a really boring video?" I laughed, not understanding the allure. Even after nine months of dating and five months of that being public, it amazed me that people still found entertainment in us doing the smallest things together.

"Maybe we should make it interesting, go stand near the condoms and pregnancy tests or something?" He winked at me, smiling.

I laughed, holding my hand over my mouth to stop myself from bursting into a fit of laughter.

Harry took my hand, pulling me over to the check-out.

The girl continued to video us as we walked out, both of us trying not to make it obvious that we knew we were being filmed.

We walked through the park, Harry giving me one of his Twix's as we talked.

Harry bent down to kiss me on the cheek or the top of my head every few minutes, a habit of his that I knew the paparazzi absolutely loved. Not that I minded in the slightest.

There was a party on tonight, something which I was actually really looking forward to.

Harry stared at my chest as I waited with him for Andy in my dress for the party, the strip of mesh down the middle attracting his attention. He'd seen it all before, but it never ceased to bring him joy when he got even the slightest peek.

He tugged at my waist, pulling me closer, my heels making the height difference less prominent.

He kissed my cheek, before moving down neck and to my shoulder.

"Harry" I playfully scolded, leaning my head to the side slightly so that he had more room. "We have to go in a few minutes."

"Your fault for wearing this poor excuse for a dress."

I laughed lightly, hearing Andy's footsteps. "Later, Harold."

He pouted, "fine."

I grinned, kissing him quickly as Andy came into the room.

"Let's party" she said, fist pumping and picking up her phone off the table.

"Woo!" Harry whooped, much to my amusement.

The party was in full swing when we arrived and Harry, Andy and I made our way over to where Liam and Danielle were sitting, Danielle jumping up to hug Andy and me as soon as she saw us.

"Ails! Andy! You're here!" Danielle, Eleanor, Andy and I always stuck together during parties. Andy may not be dating one of the boys, but she was still part of our little group.

A few hours into the party, and Andy was chatting up some tall, tanned sex god while I sat on Harry's lap as he consistently tried to drunkenly edge his hand up my thigh.

I pushed it back down again, the funny side of it starting to wear off. Could he really not wait an hour?

I saw Niall sitting by himself, looking gloomily at the corner where Andy was standing. I got up off Harry's lap, after a bit of struggling to make him let go of me, and walked over to him.

"What's up, Leprechaun?" I asked affectionately, ruffling his hair.

"Nothing" he grumbled, taking a sip of whatever he was drinking. I decided I probably didn't want to know.

"So why are you drinking away your sorrows then?" He raised an eyebrow at me and I grinned before turning serious. "Really, what's wrong?"

He gestured with his cup over to where Andy was standing. "Why him? What's so great about him?"

It was my turn to raise an eyebrow. "Why do you care?" I asked as gently as possible.

He smiled slightly. "Why do you think, Ails?"

I put up my hands in surrender. "Just making sure. Why don't you make a move, then?"

He shook his head. "She's having loads of fun without my advances."

I sighed. "Niall, she doesn't really like him. She just flirts with guys so that she has someone to talk to when Harry and I start snogging each other's faces off." He choked on his drink and I smiled. "Her words, not mine."

He placed his cup down, standing up before sitting back down again. "I can't do it."

I groaned before hearing Harry call me over. "We'll work on this" I said before walking back over to Harry.

"Yes, master?"

He smiled, patting his lap. "Sit back down, Sweetheart."

I smiled, forgiving him for his previously overbearing ways, sitting down on his lap.

I rested my head on his shoulder as he slid his hands up and down my calves.

"You know, Niall likes Andy." I stated, expecting him to be surprised.

But instead, he nodded. "I know."

I looked up at him. "You know? You mean you knew and didn't tell me?"

He looked guilty, nodding his head slightly. I scoffed, shaking my head.

"I promised" he offered, and I laughed at his attempts to win back my affections.

"I still love you, don't worry." He smiled, kissing me, much to everyone's disgust.

"Here we go! Get a room you two!"

"Like you two are saints!" Harry protested, looking directly at Louis.

Louis just tugged Eleanor closer, pressing a kiss to her temple.

The party ended about an hour later, Harry carrying my shoes for me as we opened the door to his place.

Louis was staying over at Eleanor's, claiming that they needed time alone. Harry just jokingly told him to be safe.

Harry eagerly pulled me close, his lips finding their way to mine within seconds.

I laughed, pulling away. "You really can't hold on for a minute?"

"You have no idea how amazing you look in that dress."

I pretended to be hurt, stepping back. I pouted, jutting out my lower lip. "So I don't look amazing all the time?"

He looked at me pointedly, knowing that I was only playing around. "Get over here."

I smiled, shaking my head.

He took a step towards me and I took a step back, laughing as he instantly took another step closer to me.

He snagged me around the waist, pulling me down onto the bed and hovering over me.

He brushed away a lock of my hair, pressing him lips to mine before unzipping my dress, pulling it off me and throwing it to the floor.

I was thankful that he had taken his blazer off as soon as we got inside, as I was not in the mood for that many layers at the moment.

He quickly removed as many items of his clothing as he could, claiming my lips with his own.

He tangled his fingers into my hair before lifting me up and placing me up the bed a little bit more, his hands grasping at my waist.

The next morning, I woke up to Harry playing with my hair, two cups of tea resting on the bedside table.

"You're awake," he murmured, kissing me softly and handing me my tea.

I smiled, nodding tiredly.

We had the morning to ourselves, before a movie premiere that night that would also take up most of the afternoon.

We lay on the couch, watching Love Actually as we idly chatted as well as watching the movie.

"You know, we have to set Niall and Andy up" he informed me as he kissed my temple.

I nodded; the thought had already crossed my mind earlier.

"Starting tonight," he went on. I bit my lip. Tonight seems a little late notice to form some plan to get them together.

He saw my hesitation. "We'll figure it out before tonight. Have a little faith, love."


	15. Chapter 15

Harry wrapped his arm tightly around my waist as the cameras flashed.

We stood on the red carpet, getting our picture taken. I had already been photographed with Andy and the rest of the boys, as well as Danielle and Eleanor who had come with Liam and Louis.

After getting our picture repeatedly taken, we went inside and took our seats.

The movie was decent, but what I had been waiting for all night was the after party.

Harry held onto me firmly, and I couldn't help but giggle at how he held me closer whenever any boy would look at me for more than three seconds at a time.

I watched Andy and Niall, as they stood together talking. Niall's fingers would twitch towards hers every so often, something that I found immensely cute.

A slow song came on and Harry led me to where everyone was dancing.

"Come on, forget about 'Nandy' over there for a minute and dance with your boyfriend." I laughed. We had joked about how they could be nicknamed Nandy, and how it suited because it sounded like Nandos.

Harry wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me close. I smiled, resting my head on his chest.

We stayed dancing like that until the song finished and I looked up to see Andy and Niall in the same position, looking slightly awkward.

Harry chuckled. "Looks like they didn't need much help after all."

I smiled, "They'll get there in the end".

At home, we continued talking about Niall and Andy while making a late dinner for ourselves. Once again, Louis was over at Eleanor's, Harry complaining that they may as well move into together.

I reached over for one of the shallots, proceeding to cut it up.

"Why are you using the little one?"Harry asked, putting the water on the boil.

"Even the small ones deserve love!" I protested, laughing.

He came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and hugging my hips.

"I love you" he laughed.

I smiled, turning my head around as far as I could to kiss him. "I love you too."

"Even when you become attached to the little shallots."

I laughed. "Good to know you can handle my crazy side."

He kissed my cheek. "Always."

Once we had cooked, eaten and cleaned up dinner, we sat on the couch and watched a random TV show that had come on.

Harry lay down, pulling me with him.

He tucked a lock of hair behind my ear, kissing my temple. "I love you."

I looked back at him. "I love you _more_."

He grinned, leaning down to kiss me. "I love you _most_."

I giggled, letting him kiss me again.

We kissed for a long moment before I pulled away. He pouted, tightening his arms around me.

I laughed before sighing. "I should get home soon."

He smirked. "I don't know. You never know what you might find. What if Niall's there?"

I rolled my eyes. "They were dancing. It hardly means they're going to go back to ours and jump each other's bones."

He grinned. "You sound so English."

I tilted my head to the side, mock-thinking about it. "Hmm, could that be because my boyfriend is English and so are all of our friends? I don't know, could be."

He nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Mock me all you want, Sweetheart."

I smiled, kissing him quickly. "I love it when you call me that" I admitted.

He smiled, kissing my nose and making me giggle. "I really _really_ love you."

I turned around fully so that all of me was facing him, wrapping my arms around his neck. "I love you too."

He ran one hand through my hair before tucking a lock of hair behind my ear.

I rested my head in the crook of his neck as he played with my hair, my eyes slowly closing as I fell asleep.

I woke up in bed the next morning, assuming that Harry had somehow carried me from the couch to the bed.

I stayed lying there for a few minutes, letting myself wake up properly.

Harry walked into the room, carrying a plate of pancakes and two cups of tea.

"Breakfast for my girl" he smiled, sitting down on the bed next to me.

We demolished the plate of pancakes, playfully fighting over the last bite.

He took the empty cups and plate back to the kitchen, leaving me still in bed.

I pulled the sheets up over my head, stretching out. After a few minutes, I felt a weight press down on me.

Harry slowly pulled the sheets back, "hiding?"

I smirked sleepily, pulling the sheets back over my head. "Absolutely."

"Guess I'll just have to seek you." I could almost _feel_ him grinning cheekily.

He poked at my side, making me jolt in the other direction, giggling.

"Harold" I said disapprovingly.

"Aileen" he retorted.

I giggled as he tickled my waist. "Harry!"

He continued to tickle me, as I laughed hysterically, the blankets eventually getting kicked off me as I squirmed.

He stopped tickling me, kissing me instead.

"Found you."

I paced the length of the room, trying to control my nerves. It was my first headlining show, and I was more nervous than I had ever been. Sharp pains went through my stomach every few minutes, but I just put it down to nerves.

I checked my phone once again before hiding it in my bag. I had been checking it obsessively for the past hour.

I wasn't usually the type of girlfriend to check her phone every two minutes, but tonight was a huge deal for me, and Harry was late.

The band and I were in lockdown backstage. Lockdown was something my mum had come up with, knowing that if I was around all the excitement before a concert I would psych myself out.

We locked ourselves into one of the rooms, just warming up and rehearsing a bit before it was time for the show to start.

I got ready to go on the stage, butterflies erupting in my stomach as the doors of the stage opened and fireworks went off.

I strutted onto the stage, flipping my hair over one shoulder and smiling out at the packed arena.

We completed a set list of songs off of my soon-to-be-released album, the fact that they knew every word never ceasing to amaze me.

As the concert went on, my nerves disappeared but the sharp pains stayed. I didn't feel as energetic as usual, the room spinning slightly.

As I finished up my set, I tried to keep a smile on my face, waving good bye to the crowd.

The doors closed and I stepped off the stage.

"Ails, that was brilliant!" My bodyguard, Sammy, praised me like the proud stand-in father he was.

I just nodded my head in thanks, rubbing my forehead, which now felt as if it was going to explode out of pain.

Sammy led me back to my dressing room, watching me cautiously. "You alright, babygirl?"

I just nodded, sitting down in the chair placed in front of the mirror, rubbing my forehead with my hands.

Even though I had just performed and could feel the light mist of sweat on me, I shivered, suddenly cold.

I pulled on a jumper of Harry's, tugging a brush through my slightly tangled blonde waves.

The door opened, Harry smiling at me. "Hey, Sweetheart. I watched from the crowd, you were amazing."

I smiled tiredly as he came over to me and kissed the top of my head.

"Are you alright? You seem a bit sick."

I just shrugged, pulling the sleeves of Harry's sweater down over my knuckles,

"Why are you wearing a sweater? Aren't you hot?" Harry raised a hand, feeling my forehead. "You're burning up, Ails." He reached for my hand so that he could push up my sleeve, stopping when he came into contact with my skin.

"Your hands are cold, Ails."

He pulled me up from my seat, pushing my hair out of my face and looking at me. "Ails?"

He led me out into the hall, one hand on my hip and the other still holding my hand. As we walked down the hall, I tripped and stumbled, my vision blurring and my hearing cutting out for a second as I blacked out.


	16. Chapter 16

A beeping sound woke me up, the only noise I could hear besides heavy breathing.

The beeping was coming from the monitor next to my bed, the beating indicating that my heart was, in fact, beating.

I recoiled when I saw the needles sticking into my arms, feeling queasy. I wanted nothing more than to tug them out, but that would require touching them, which would only make me pass out again.

I looked over to where the heavy breathing was coming from. Harry sat sprawled in an armchair, his hand outstretched to where mine had lay moments ago.

A nurse came into the room, smiling when she saw that I was awake. "How are you feeling, darling? You gave everyone a pretty big fright." She looked over at Harry. "Especially him, he hasn't left your side once."

"How long have I been under?"

She shrugged slightly, "about a day and a half. We had to put you into an induced coma."

I raised my eyebrows, shocked. "What's wrong with me?" I murmured.

She was silent for a second before sitting down on the bed. "How are your eating habits, sweetie?"

I was confused. "Fine, lots of junk food, though."

She smiled slightly. "And how much did you eat before the concert?"

I shrugged, trying to remember. "I was really nervous all day, so I didn't eat anything. Is that why I passed out?"

She patted my hand, "partially. We think that you may have a rare stomach problem where, when you don't eat for a few hours, your stomach acid starts to eat away at the lining of your stomach. It's easy to manage; you just need to make sure you eat at least every three hours."

I shut my eyes for a second before opening them. "But why has it suddenly come on now? I've never had to eat every few hours before."

She shook her head. "No, but it can be brought on by stress."

I groaned, just thinking _so to stop myself from passing out, I need to eat like an obese person? Or Niall._

The nurse patted my hand again before leaving me alone to think.

Harry stirred in the corner, moving around in his seat. He yawned, opening his eyes and looking at me. They widened when they saw that I was awake.

He jumped out of his seat, at my side in seconds. "Ails! You're okay! You're awake!"

He threw his arms around me, careful not to hurt me, kissing the top of my head and forehead.

"Did the nurse explain everything to you?"

I nodded before biting my lip.

"Did you really stay here the whole time?"

He smiled. "I didn't leave once."

I tried not to think about the bladder control that must have taken, instead choosing to focus on the fact that I had the best boyfriend ever.

"I love you."

He sighed. "You know, I was scared I'd never hear you say that again." He bent down to my level, pressing a kiss to my lips. "I love you too."

A few hours later, and I was ready to be discharged. Andy had brought me a change of clothes, thankfully nothing too dressy. She had brought my favourite pair of grey sweatpants and a loose fitting top, as well as bringing me a get well teddy.

Harry kept his arm around me as we walked out, me hugging the teddy to my chest, shielding me from the waiting paparazzi.

"Ailey! Any explanation as to why you fell ill?"

"Ailey! Is it true that you became sick because of a hidden eating disorder?"

"Ailey! Any comment of the rumour that your sickness is due to an unplanned pregnancy?"

The shouts of the paparazzi filled the air, but Harry just held me firmly to his side, leading me towards the waiting car.

I had to admit, the rumour about me being pregnant was slightly humorous, remembering how Harry had joked a while ago that we should stand in the pregnancy test isle of the convenience store to give everyone something to talk about.

The comment about an eating disorder bothered me, as I knew that that particular rumour was the one that was most likely to be believed. Especially since my illness did actually involve not eating enough at the right times.

We finally got into the car, Sammy shutting the door behind us. I hugged the teddy bear to my chest, leaning against Harry.

The past week had been hectic, with the media pumping out rumours about pregnancies, eating disorders and, horrendously enough, STIs. Simon had thought it best to get the boys, Andy and me out of London for a while.

Danielle and Eleanor had been offered invites too, but Danielle had a film clip to rehearse for and Eleanor had a fashion show and photo shoot.

We arrived in Cheshire just after midnight and were too sleepy to look at our surroundings on our way to Harry's step-Dad's bungalow.

We were too tired to put up much of a fight over rooms and beds, so I found myself laying in Harry's arms, him already asleep.

The boys thought it would be hilarious to wake us through song in the morning, singing softly about breakfast and lazy lovers before jumping up and down on the bed.

I groaned, sitting up and muttering "it's like I already have children."

"A preview of your and Harry's future" Louis declared, tugging the blanket off me.

I rolled my eyes, falling back onto the bed.

We were going to spend the next day with Harry's family, but we had today all to ourselves.

We spent the day swimming and messing around with guitars, before sitting around a fire when it got dark.

Harry pulled me down onto his lap, pulling a blanket around the both of us. I leant my head on his shoulder, sighing as he twirled a lock of my hair around his finger.

"It's weird thinking I've only known you guys since Bootcamp, it feels like it's been longer."

Everyone nodded in agreement, Harry hugging me tighter to him.

"And now you and Harry are madly in love and are going to end up married with adorable children" Louis said, doing a creepily good impression of me as he said adorable.

Everyone laughed, and the conversation moved on, with Harry staying slightly quieter than usual until we all went to bed.

We lay down in the double bed, Harry wrapping his arms around me as per usual.

We were both silent until Harry spoke up, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear.

"Before, what Louis said, was it really that ridiculous?"

I leant my head on his chest, "what do you mean?"

With my ear against his chest, I could hear his heart beat faster. "What he said, about us getting married and having kids?"

I tilted my head up a bit so that I was looking at him. "I don't know, did you think it was?"

He blushed, "no, I didn't think it sounded that bad."

I blushed too, my voice quiet. "I didn't think it sounded that bad either."

He hesitated before speaking again. "So that's a…possibility? For us?"

I grinned, turning over onto my stomach and resting my chin on his chest. "Yes, we can get married and have utterly adorable children. One of them being a gorgeous baby girl named Darcy, of course."

He smiled. "You'll let me name our daughter? What about what you want to name her?" I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that we were talking as if this plan was definite.

I shrugged. "I'll just get to name our son."

He laughed. "And what will our son's name be?"

I pretended to think about it and he laughed again. "Don't hold out on me, Ails!"

I smiled, "you'll just have to wait and see then, won't you?"


	17. Chapter 17

Harry kept his arm tight around my waist as he led me through the front door of his mother's home. I bit my lip, trying not to show the extent of my nerves.

"Harry! Ailey! You're here!"

Anne rushed forward to greet us, wrapping her arms around us separately. She smoothed my hair down, a motherly gesture that I was now accustomed to.

"Come outside and meet everyone, Sweetheart!" She led us through the house and to the back garden, Harry's arm never leaving my waist.

As soon as we were outside, I was introduced to about a dozen people that I hopefully wouldn't forget the names of in the next few seconds.

Harry led me over to a grouping of chairs where Gemma sat, deeming it a safe place to sit. Gemma got up to hug me, ruffling Harry's hair.

"Oh, so this is the lovely Ailey." One of Harry's relatives, his uncle, he whispered in my ear, said, grinning at me.

I just smiled back, saying "it's nice to meet you."

"And what an adorable accent."

I laughed, used to people pointing out my accent.

For the next half hour, I sat with Gemma and Harry, talking to their uncle until he left to go rescue his son from his daughter who was currently chucking everything she could get her hands on at him. Eventually, another one of their relatives came and took Harry away, claiming he was needed elsewhere. Harry gave me an apologetic look, kissing my temple before leaving.

Gemma smiled at me reassuringly as a little girl in a pink skirt came running up to us. "Gemma, Auntie Liz wants you."

Gemma sighed, standing up. "I'm coming. Ails, you alright?"

I nodded, smiling. Gemma walked off, hand in hand with the little girl.

"What are you doing all on your lonesome?" I looked to my left to see Anne with a bundle of blankets in her arms. She sat down in Gemma's empty seat, careful not to jolt the baby too harshly.

"Gemma just left" I explained, gesturing in the direction she had gone.

"And my son? Leaving you all alone."

I laughed, "he was called away."

She smiled, "well, you can talk to me and Sasha instead."

I laughed, leaning over to look at the tiny baby girl in Anne's arms. She hiccupped, reaching up a hand to me lazily.

Anne bounced her slightly. "She's beautiful, isn't she?" She cooed, slipping into baby talk.

She looked up at me, smiling. "Our family has a tendency for baby talk, so don't be surprised if we stop using proper English whenever Sasha is around."

I laughed, "I don't mind, trust me."

Anne sighed, standing up again. "I should probably get back to the kitchen and get Sasha back to her mum."

I stood up too. "Do you need any help? I'm all free."

Anne smiled. "A girl after my own heart. Come on then."

I followed Anne inside, after handing Sasha back over to her mum, and into the now empty kitchen.

"You should have seen this place a half hour ago. I could barely move."

I smiled. "So what do you want me to do?"

"Well, it's to the fun stuff now. Cake time." She grinned, reminding me of Harry.

I grinned in return. "My favourite."

We proceeded to make a decadent chocolate cake, making a mess in the process. I had always loved Anne, but my love for her grew as she told me every embarrassing Harry story she could think of.

I was cleaning up a patch of spilt flour and laughing when I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist.

Harry kissed my cheek, resting his head on top of mine. "Mum, you stole my girlfriend."

Anne smiled, prying Harry's arms from around me and pulling me into hers. "She's mine now, baby."

Harry rolled his eyes, just as Gemma walked into the kitchen.

"Gem, mum stole my girlfriend." I laughed at the whole conversation, still standing in Anne's arms.

Gemma nodded, looking at Anne. "She's mum's now."

Harry pouted, holding out his arms for me. I laughed, raising an eyebrow at him.

He groaned, giving up. Anne laughed, letting me go and pushing me towards Harry, who immediately wrapped his arms around me.

Gemma laughed, smiling at me and mouthing "get used to it".

We spent the next half hour in the backyard, eating. It reminded me of Christmas at my Grandparents back in Australia, the only time when I had gotten to see them all year.

"So, Harry, found yourself the one?" One of Harry's cousins called out across the table.

Harry smiled, his arm resting on the back of my chair. He looked over at me and I smiled shyly, blushing.

"If he doesn't keep her, I will." Anne said, stopping the embarrassment.

Harry's relatives laughed, and Harry pulled me closer to him, kissing the top of my head. "In answer to his question, yes" he murmured so that only I could hear.


	18. Chapter 18

I leant my chin against the toilet bowl rim, looking at the remnants of my twenty-fourth birthday cake from last night.

I had no clue why I was sick; I hadn't had anything stronger than lemonade last night at the party Harry had thrown for me.

"Sweetheart, are you alright?" Harry called from the other side of the door.

He was getting ready to go into the studio, and I knew that he would insist on staying home with me if he thought I was too sick.

"I'll be fine in a few minutes" I called, pushing my hair out of my eyes.

The door opened and Harry was at my side. "I know your lying" he said, taking my hair and plaiting it gently to keep it out of my face.

"You know me too well."

He kissed my temple. "We've been together eight years, Mrs. Styles, it's kind of expected that I know you well."

I laughed before groaning, holding my stomach. Harry slipped his arms around my waist, lightly rubbing my stomach.

"I'll stay home and look after you."

I shook my head, my forehead brushing against his slightly stubbly chin. "Harold Styles, go to work."

He laughed. "Aileen Styles, admit that you're sick."

I tried not to laugh, but failed. "I'll call Eleanor, she'll come look after me."

He thought about it for a second. "Fine, but I'm watching you as you call her and talking to her to make sure she's actually coming."

I stood up with his help, shaking my head. "You really do know me too well."

He kissed the top of my head. "I love you."

I smiled. "I love you too."

After watching me call Eleanor and making sure she was actually coming, Harry left for the studio, telling me he loved me as he walked out the door.

I lay down on the couch, pulling a blanket around me. I went through the channels for five minutes until I found something suitable, but a knock sounded at the door before I could make myself truly comfortable.

Eleanor opened the door before I could get to it. "Morning, Ails. How are you this fine morning?"

I rolled my eyes at her. "Why did you knock if you were just going to open it yourself, Ellie?"

She shrugged. "I thought you loved manners and politeness."

I laughed. "Not when I feel like this, I don't."

She sat down next to me, stealing half of my blanket. "But you didn't even drink last night, you can't be hungover?"

I shrugged. "Stomach bug?" I offered.

"Is this the first day you've been sick?"

I shook my head. "Don't you dare tell Harry, but no."

She smiled, knowing how protective Harry was of me. It was never annoying, but I hated worrying him.

"How long?"

I shrugged. "A few days, I feel like I'm bloody pregnant throwing up every morning."

Eleanor had been studying her cuticles, but her head snapped up when I said 'pregnant'.

"You don't think you could be?"

I stared at her for a second. "Surely not. I mean, I don't know, maybe?" My voice started to sound panicked as I continued talking.

She took my hands, sensing my panic. "It was a huge surprise for me and Louis too, but just think. Is it possible?"

Eleanor and Louis had been taken totally by surprise when Eleanor had fallen pregnant with their son and my godson, Noah, a year ago.

I bit my lip, thinking. I went through the last few months in my head, letting go of Eleanor's head and groaning as I flopped onto my back.

It was possible.

"Bugger" I said, covering my face with my hands.

Elle pulled my hands off of my face, understanding.

"We should get proof before we have a breakdown, Ails."

I was too panicked to laugh, just thinking of all the reasons why I would make a terrible mother. Harry would be great, but I would surely mess it up. I'd always wanted kids, and I knew that Harry did too, but I had thought I'd have a few more years to make sure I wasn't totally crap at it before it actually happened.

After sending Eleanor's sister, Brody, to get a few pregnancy tests, and after I had drank about a swimming pool's worth of water, we took the tests and waited.

I made Eleanor look at the results, too petrified to do it myself.

I wanted children, really, but I was so scared it wasn't even funny.

Eleanor came out of the bathroom and wrapped her arms around me, telling me the answer without speaking. I burst into tears, totally overwhelmed.

As usual, the people around me knew me too well, so Eleanor hugged me tighter, murmuring "it'll be fine, Ails, you won't screw it up."

By mid-afternoon Eleanor had left and I sat on the couch, glad that I didn't have to go into the studio today or anything.

I curled up on the couch with the cat, Tigger, trying to wrap my head around the fact that there was actually a child inside me. It had made perfect sense in sex-ed, but now the thought totally baffled me.

A key in the door that Eleanor had locked behind her made me look up from my stomach. I heard Harry throw his keys down on the hall table before walking into the living room. He stopped once he saw me, his eyes scanning my face, taking note of the dry tear tracks on my cheeks.

He was instantly at my side, pulling me up off the couch for a hug. I hugged back, but one hand instinctively fell to protect my sweater-clad stomach.

He pulled back, cradling my face in his hands. "What's wrong, love?"

I gulped. "Nothing's _wrong_" I put emphasis on the word wrong, defensive of our unborn child.

He ran his thumb over my cheek. "Then why were you crying and cuddled up on the couch with the cat?"

I bit my lip, at a loss for words. He knitted his eyebrows together before sighing. "Wait one second. I need to use the bathroom."

He walked to the bathroom, closing the door. I sat down on the couch, before jumping back up. The tests. They were all in the bathroom. Oh, bugger.

The door to the bathroom flew open and Harry just stared at me.

I gulped, panic forming a knot in my stomach. "Ta-dah" I said weakly, waiting for his response.

He was in front of me in an instant, picking me up and spinning me around. He set me back on my feet, kissing me and cradling my face in his hands. I placed my hands over his, my tears mingling with his.

He kissed my forehead before resting his against mine, his hands still resting on my cheeks. "We're gonna have a baby."

I smiled, letting him brush a tear from my cheek with his thumb. "And if it's a girl her name will be Darcy" I smiled, remembering our pact from so long ago.

He grinned, kissing me again. "And if it's a boy his name will be…"

I smiled. "Undecided."

He laughed, moving his hands to rest on my stomach. "It's nice to meet you, Undecided."


End file.
